Damian Lillard Comments on Goal of Winning 2016-17 NBA MVP

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard led his team to the second round of the postseason and scored a career-high 25.1 points per game in 2015-16, but he has loftier goals in 2016-17.

“I want to be the MVP,” he told Trail Blazers beat reporter Casey Holdahl on Sunday. “I think if we come out and do the things that we’re capable of doing as a team and we win games, I think that means that my performance will be at a level of the MVP.”

Any discussion about Lillard potentially landing his first MVP award starts with the stiff level of competition he will face.

Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and LeBron James immediately jump out, and that is only scratching the surface of high-quality players in the NBA while leaving out names such as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Curry, the two-time reigning MVP, plays for a Golden State Warriors team that won an NBA-record 73 games last season. Durant, who won the award in 2013-14, joined forces with the electrifying playmaker as a free agent in the offseason. Golden State will look to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the third year in a row and …

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