NBA Superstar Won't Play When Season Returns If Team Can't Make 2020 Playoffs

The NBA is reportedly planning to resume the season in July. That doesn’t necessarily mean every superstar expects to get back on the court.

The league is weighing its options regarding a return during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s all but certain that either a handful of regular-season games will be played or the NBA will go right into the playoffs.

What does that mean for players that are on teams outside of the current playoff picture? Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard won’t have any motivation to play if his team can’t reach the postseason.

“If we come back and they’re just like, ‘We're adding a few games to finish the regular season,’ and they’re throwing us out there for meaningless games and we don't have a true opportunity to get into the playoffs, I’m going to be with my team because I’m a part of the team. But I’m not going to be participating. I’m telling you that right now. And you can put that [expletive] in there,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday morning via phone.

Portland is the first team out of the Western Conference playoffs, trailing the No.8 seed Memphis Grizzlies by 3.5 games and four games in the loss column.

Before the season was suspended on March 11, the odds were against Portland reaching the playoffs. The Trail Blazers have 16 games remaining on the 82-game regular-season schedule. The New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings are also 3.5 games behind Memphis.

It’s possible that Portland could compete for a playoff spot when games resume, likely at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. The league could give teams outside of the playoff picture a chance to earn a postseason berth in a play-in tournament.

Otherwise, Lillard doesn’t appear eager to play before the 2020-2021 season.

“If we come back and I don’t have an opportunity to make the playoffs, I will show up to work, I’ll be at practice and I’ll be with my team. I’m going to do all that [expletive] and then I’m going to be sitting right on that bench during the games,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports. “If they come back and say it’s something like a tournament, play-in style, between the No. 7 and No. 12 seeds, if we’re playing for playoff spots, then I think that’s perfect.”

The 2019-2020 season was suspended indefinitely when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.

Lillard ranks fifth in the NBA with 28.9 points per game and sixth with 7.8 assists per game. He made the All-Star team for the third straight year.