The Milwaukee Bucks will put their 1-0 In-Season Tournament record to the test on Thursday night when they face off against the Charlotte Hornets. After winning their tournament opener against the New York Knicks earlier this season, they will now look to go 2-0 on Thursday in the league’s innovative and much-talked-about completion.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Damian Lillard Gets Honest on In-Season Tournament
Damian Lillard did his bit to drum up the excitement ahead of his team’s second game in the tournament. Dame enjoyed the atmosphere of their game against the Knicks, and he’s now looking more of the same against Charlotte on Thursday:
“Our one game was an exciting game,” Lillard said. “It was a high-energy game. you could feel that it’s some meaning to it. I’m excited to do one on the road.
“I think the prize in the end is what everybody’s wanting to get to. I think that puts a little bit higher stakes on the games and it gives us something to get up for.”
Lillard then took a more genuine approach as he talked about the prize money of the tournament. Dame admitted that the prize might not mean that much for players who are earning millions of dollars every single year. However, it’s much different for the other guys on the roster:
“I think it’s a situation where it’s a tournament,” he said. “You wanna win that first of all but for us, in our position, guys like myself and Giannis, Khris (Middleton), Brook (Lopez) as well, we’ve made a lot of money. But I think as a leader and somebody who cares about his teammates, especially your younger teammates — you got guys on two-way contracts, guys who are trying to earn their stake. That prize in the end, it can change their families’ lives.
“I think you don’t want to make everything about money but that’s something that we can do for people around us. Our coaches, they get a percentage of the same thing.
“Like I said, it gives you something to get up for or be excited about even if it’s not for you individually, it’s something you can do for the next person. I think that’s worth for us battling it out for.”
For what it’s worth, each player on the team that wins the tournament gets $500,000 apiece. As Dame said, that’s a lot of money for a young gun who’s trying to earn his keep.
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