On Shaedon Sharpe's Anticlimactic Summer League Debut, And a Challenge From Damian Lillard

Like everyone else, Dame wants to see Sharpe play.

LAS VEGAS—Shaedon Sharpe's Summer League coming-out party will have to wait a little longer. Or it may not come at all.

Sharpe made his highly anticipated debut on Thursday night as the Trail Blazers kicked off Summer League against the Detroit Pistons. It lasted about five minutes—he shot 1-for-3 from the field before suffering a left shoulder injury that kept him out the rest of the game. Blazers Summer League head coach Steve Hetzel said they held him out for "precautionary reasons"; Yahoo Sports reported that he would be getting an MRI. The Blazers' next game is Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans and Sharpe's status for that game is undetermined.

The news is disappointing for Sharpe, of course, but also for everyone who was hoping to finally see the Blazers' No. 7 overall pick play after a year of sitting out at Kentucky—including Damian Lillard.

Lillard was there, along with most of the rest of the Blazers' veterans (the only one I didn't see with my own eyes was Josh Hart), sitting courtside. At one point during the game, he gave an interview to ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth, and his answer to her question about Sharpe raised some eyebrows on the Internet.