Damian Lillard joining Giannis Antetokounmpo explained in football terms

Damian Lillard is teaming up with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Milwaukee Bucks after a blockbuster trade. The pair now form one of the best duos in the NBA.

It is a major pairing of two multiple-time All Stars and the Bucks are not the favorites to win the title. What does the trade mean to someone who only casually watches the NBA?

Let’s translate the deal into the terms of the most popular sport in the world, football or soccer.

One Greek poster on NBA reddit asked the community to explain the trade in terms of soccer. The NBA reddit forum replied with soccer-themed responses to help explain the significance of Lillard moving to the Bucks.

One said it would be akin to Harry Kane joining Kylian Mbappe at Paris St Germain.

Another commenter added some extra context saying “After saying all summer he only wants to play at Liverpool”. This of course is referencing how Lillard wanted to be traded to the Miami Heat and only Miami but was instead sent to Milwaukee.

Enter caption

The community had plenty of other responses as well. There were plenty of examples of how the trade could be made into soccer terms. Check out the comments on the reddit post here.

One fan took the opportunity to poke fun at the Heat fanbase. The Heat are known for their often fiery fans.

Those fans are complaining they were robbed of their new star player with the deal. One redditor compared their tears to those of Barcelona fans who often think they will get every signing even though they cannot sign the big names anymore.

Enter caption

What would the Damian Lillard trade be in football terms?

How could you translate the Damian Lillard trade into terms of the other kind of football, American football? One redditor took to to the question to translate the trade into NFL terms.

They likened the trade to Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. It would be an incredible pairing of a star player with someone even better in Patrick Mahomes. It is a fitting parallel for Lillard joining Antetokounmpo.

One said it might be similar to the trade that already happened. Last year star running back Christain McCaffrey was traded to the already loaded San Francisco 49ers. He gave the team a huge boost until they lost in the NFC championship game. It offers a similiar move to Damian Lillard changing teams.