Damian Lillard says trust is crucial in partnership with Giannis Antetokounmpo

The success of this superstar partnership will boil down to trust.

© Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Partnerships between NBA superstars may look glossy and glamorous on the surface, but there's a lot of hard work that goes into making these relationships successful. Damian Lillard recently shared his thoughts on what it takes to make such partnerships work, specifically with Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Trust one another to help carry the load

In Portland, Lillard was tasked with not only being the face of the franchise but also the team's leader and cornerstone. The experience has given him a unique perspective on what it takes to make this superstar partnership with Giannis work, which he believes all starts with trust.

“I think now that we together, we both got to look over and say, ‘This is a top-75 player too, and I got to trust him to carry this with me.’ You know, I think we both got to do that. And we both got to be able to do, like how we're saying,” Lillard shared on the Knuckleheads Podcast.

Don’t take anything personally

Lillard went on and narrated how the dynamic with him and his previous runningmate, CJ McCollum went, saying he and the latter trusted one another enough to verbalize their frustrations.

“With me and CJ, we look at each other and be like, ‘I ain't gonna take nothing you say to me personal, right? And don't take nothing I say to you personally. Just know that I'm your biggest cheerleader. And I'm gonna champion you at all times. Like I'm gonna be behind you,’” Lillard added.

“Me and him (Giannis) got to be able to hold each other accountable. And I don't mean yelling at each other all the time. Just mean, like, I gotta be able to say something to you. Yeah, you gotta be able to say something to me at all times. So I think we got to have those two things on a high level, and after that, we got a shot,” Dame added.

The dynamic between Giannis and Lillard remains a tough balancing act early in the season