“It is the ultimate respect,” Damian Lillard hails Giannis Antetokounmpo’s on-court understanding as he urged him to take the lead

Damian Lillard made a statement debut for the Milwaukee Bucks as he dropped 39 points, eight boards and four assists on the night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Lillard helped his team win the clash by a close margin of 118-117 to start the new season.

Lillard, who has joined the team via trade has already started building an on-court relationship with Giannis Antetokounmpo. It was a great show of dominance between the two. However, Lillard stole the show as 14 of his points came in the fourth quarter.

The superstar guard revealed that Antetokounmpo had told him to take charge of the game as the Greek Freak understood that Lillard was having the hot hand on the night and it eventually worked in their favour.

When asked about his big debut performance for the Milwaukee Bucks, Lillard credited Giannis Antetokounmpo for his encouragement, which Lillard feels is the ultimate respect for a new player.

“Giannis was like, ‘Come get it, this what you do.’ When you’ve got that type of encouragement from your team, especially a new team, all it does is make you more comfortable to be who you are. I think it’s just the ultimate respect. I’ve said it before, Giannis is the most dominant player in the world,” Lillard shared.

He shared how Antetokounmpo is so welcoming even after achieving so much in his career. Lillard feels that it will help in building their on-court relationship even more. “For him to have the accolades, and be who he is, and to be able to say something like that. I think it makes it more telling why I fit perfectly with a guy like that, and hopefully, we have a lot of success together,” he added.

The duo of Antetokounmpo and Lillard will be the biggest force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference this season. Milwaukee Bucks are surely a top-two team this season. However, they will face some competition from the Boston Celtics as they have also brought in some talented players in the summer.

But with this win against the Sixers, Lillard and Antetokounmpo are proving that they can be very deadly when they work in tandem. Antetokounmpo finished the game with 23 points, 13 boards and three assists.

The Milwaukee Bucks will host the Atlanta Hawks on October 30 at the