How Lillard’s unintentional nonsense sparked Steph’s 62-point game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Even some of the best shooters are getting their hands on it, and that’s exactly what happened to eight-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard during the 2020-2021 NBA season.
And like many others around the league, it was because of Warriors superstar Steph Curry.
Before joining Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, Lillard spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers, meaning at least three meetings with his hometown team in the Bay.
While Lillard’s homecomings are usually special, he explained on the “Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch & Mike Robinson” how a visit to San Francisco was one to forget.
“Like three years ago, it was after the Warriors had a bunch of injuries, and this was after they won their first couple championships and were struggling,” Lillard explained. “People double-teamed Steph, triple-teamed Steph. We played them back-to-back in San Francisco. So we played them the first time and we beat them. We did the same thing as the other teams [were doing] to Steph: We double teamed and switched gears. And [the media] said, “Lady, teams are giving Steph a lot of attention. They corrupt him. They are physical with him.”
“And I thought, ‘Yeah, I know how he feels, because when my team was in trouble, we were struggling, and they didn’t respect who I was on the field with at that moment. They guarded me like that.’ And I felt like Steph has played with a lot of vets over the years, they knew how to get him the ball, they knew how to get him open, they knew how to play, but now he sees something different because it’s different now.”
But the way it was interpreted and relayed by the media was not the way Lillard intended it.
But whether Curry knew it or not, he responded the only way he knows how.
“And they took it and turned it like I said, ‘Now you see what it’s like, now he’s going to see if he can still do it.’ But really, I’m talking to Steph. I would never say backhanded, weird things about Steph. I wouldn’t do it about anyone, but certainly not about him, because I respect him. So after I say it, we go back to them two days later play and Steph comes out and he shoots every time. Obviously he’s a competitor. So I’m going to try to get him, just like he’s going to try to get out there and he’s shooting, shooting, shooting type that he’s not going to announce like, ‘I heard what you said’ or ‘You said this, you said that’, he just comes out – he’s a real competitor.
“So he comes out and he hits 3 after 3 after 3. And my first thought is I don’t care. I didn’t mean it like that and I don’t care if you’re trying to make a statement because you thought I meant it that way. It is what it is. He ended up turning 62. He ran around celebrating. So after the game I shake his hand and we walk away. [he] I just got my ass.” My comments weren’t even hitting the mark at all, but I definitely got that day.”
Hey Lady, it happens to the best of them.
Luckily for him, he’s now on the East Coast and only has to play Curry in the Bay once a season. And by now he’s probably learned to choose his words more carefully.
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