Raptors' Anunoby pranked Damian Lillard with fake trade text
While Toronto Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby has a reputation of being a man of few words, he’s never been shy to be one to pull off a prank or two.
This offseason, one of the major storylines going around the league was the future of star point guard Damian Lillard, who sent a trade request to the Portland Trail Blazers after 11 seasons with the franchise.
And though Lillard ultimately was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a three-team deal, the Raptors found themselves deep in talks for the seven-time NBA All-Star. Though it was widely reported that Lillard’s ideal destination was the Miami Heat, Toronto — along with a host of other teams — found themselves in the mix for his services.
It was a storyline that permeated throughout the summer, with the rumours of where Lillard would ultimately end up seemingly never-ending before the trade finally broke last week.
Speaking on his first media day with the Bucks to NBA TV, Lillard revealed that Anunoby actually pranked him to suggest he’d be heading to Toronto a few days prior to the trade actually going down.
“Everything was up in the air… I just got a random text from O.G. [Anunoby],” Lillard said in a video posted by reporter Chris Haynes. “He’s always messing around, joking and stuff like that… He texted me like ‘Welcome to Toronto’. I finally called him and he didn’t answer. Then he called me back, he was laughing… It just caught me off guard, I know it didn’t happen like that.”
The prank Raptors forward OG Anunoby pulled on Bucks star Damian Lillard that shocked him days before actual trade: “Welcome to Toronto.” pic.twitter.com/kSJ4WAAIKv
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 3, 2023
Lillard added that the two often worked out together in the summer.
Anunoby wasn’t the only person to possibly confuse Lillard about the chance of him ending up in Toronto, as NBA insider Shams Charania also mistakenly broke the trade as Lillard coming to the Raptors before quickly deleting his Tweet.
In any case, it’s not that long before Lillard and Anunoby have the chance to link up as opponents once again, with the Bucks making their next visit to Scotiabank Arena on November 1 to take on the Raptors.