Timbers owner Merritt Paulson criticizes ESPN for the selfish Damian Lillard. The take that originally appeared on NBC Sports Northwest
Merritt Paulson is one of us.
The owner of Portland Timbers and Thorns FC tweeted his disdain for ESPN, and more specifically Stephan A Smith, for apparently trying to force Damian Lillard to leave Portland to play in the so-called “big market”.
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No one (fans or media) ever makes that claim about Rodgers in Green Bay or Mahomes in KC. You can cover Blazers in the same way as you cover Bosses. And I didn’t even hear that on Giannis w the Bucks.
Such a stupid comment. @Dame_Lillard everything is fine where it is at https://t.co/1T0m9teEEg
– Merritt Paulson (@MerrittPaulson) March 5, 2021
“No one (fans or media) ever makes that claim about Rodgers in Green Bay or Mahomes in KC,” wrote Paulson. “You can cover the Blazers just like you can cover the Bosses.
“And I didn’t even hear that in Giannis [with] the Bucks. Such a stupid comment. @Dame_Lillard he is very well where he is. ”
He’s right.
Kansas City is the 34th ranked media market. Milwaukee is the 37th. Portland is the 21st.
Although ESPN finds it easy to cover all the plots around Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes, but when it comes to Damian Lillard, all they can come up with is “He should go to the Knicks!”
In the past 24 hours, ESPN has featured segments asking whether Devin Booker (whose Phoenix Suns has the NBA’s second best record), Luka Doncic (who appears to be a MVP contender in Dallas) and now Damian Lillard (whose Blazers are fifth in the West) must force their way into the New York Knicks.
Paulson mentions not having heard of Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is also true since he signed his super-max extension. When his free agency seemed to be approaching, the vast majority of Bucks coverage was surrounding him if Giannis left. Now that he is in jail until 2025, with a $ 51 million player option for 2025-26, national sports channels are ignoring Bucks, which holds the NBA’s second best net rating, to talk about … the Knicks who are not embarrassing at the All-Star break for the first time in eight seasons.
In addition, Damian Lillard signed a supermax extension two seasons ago and will not be eligible to be a free agent until 2025, while Giannis may be a free agent, but when it comes to Dame, ESPN prefers to create narratives about him going to New York than to give you honest coverage.
In the clip posted by Smith, he said he wants Lillard going to a big market so that basketball fans can see him every night. Smith works for ESPN, an NBA national broadcast partner who can choose to organize as many Trail Blazers games as he wants. The reason for his frustration is because his exhaust valve is too lazy to do its job properly.
Stephen A. Smith signed a $ 8 million annual five-year contract in 2019. NBA League Pass costs $ 199.99. He can afford to watch Lillard as much as he wants, but he prefers not to.
You know that the coverage seems disrespectful to the public’s intelligence when an owner of a professional team from another league calls you.