Its refreshing to see this tho, hopefully Portland can get Dame some real help so he can get at least one.
Something special about a home grown ring, means alot more than these manufactured rings these players have been chasing the last 10 years.
Hopefully Ja, Zion, and Lamelo are watching and choose a different path than the old guard did.
I feel like it was a necessary evil tho.
For years plenty of players have fell victim to incompetence from the front office, but the fukked up part is that the front office would get none of the blame while the player is the one to deal with the negative energy. Which is understandable because they're the ones taking the court, but there should be a balance. The past decade allowed players to hold the front office accountable for the team that's on the court.
Alot of blame also goes to the media for creating these narratives of rings, rings, rings. The same ones that are showering Giannis with praise now were the ones running free agency articles just a few months ago about him potentially joining the Warriors or Heat before he signed an extension.
Don't forget he walked out on Malika Andrews back in 2019 for asking a free agency question after being eliminated, 2 years before his deal was over.
Dame is in a similar situation, but Portland's FO track record lately shows that he's behind the 8 ball in the championship chase.
To win a championship you need a lot of things to come together. I think once people realize this and understand that every situation is different then they'd enjoy the game a bit more.