Portland Trail Blazers chair Jody Allen refused to talk with superstar point Damian Lillard about his concerns with how the team is run, according to a report Thursday from the New York Post. The report said that Allen instead referred Lillard to Blazers vice chair Bert Kolde.
From the story:
“Damian wanted to sit down and have a conversation with Jody about the team and she didn’t return his call. Then he tried to email her. Eventually she just never responded and put him in touch with Bert,” the source alleged. “When you own a team, there are critical key decisions to make and you should be the one involved in making the decisions.”
The report didn’t specify when Lillard reached out to Allen for the conversation.
Lillard issued a statement to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes refuting the report:
Allen took over ownership of the Seahawks and Blazers after her brother, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, died in 2018. His estate is being overseen by her.
The report also comes the same week Allen issued a statement about the Blazers and Seattle Seahawks, saying neither team is for sale and there are no ongoing sale discussions.
That statement came after the Blazers confirmed that Nike co-founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers minority owner Alan Smolinisky made an offer to buy the team. The offer reportedly was for $2 billion-plus.
Former Blazers president Larry Miller told the Post that Allen is making a mistake by not selling the team. Miller, 72, was a longtime executive at Nike and is currently the chairman of Jordan Brand.
“I would say (to her), absolutely take the offer,” Miller told the paper.
On the Lillard front, he has continued to stress his commitment to Portland but there have been questions about how he views the team’s future. Last summer, a report from Haynes noted his concerns about whether the Blazers were building a championship contender.
But this summer, Lillard is still with the Blazers and has been involved in the team’s effort to retool its roster around him via free agency, trades and the draft. Lillard held a role during the team’s draft process, which resulted in Portland drafting Kentucky’s Shaedon Sharpe at No. 7. On Thursday, the Blazers held a news conference with new acquisitions Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II, along with re-signed players Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic.
These moves have all come under Blazers general manager Joe Cronin, who was promoted to the role in May.
- Aron Yohannes
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