How Lillard’s accidental trash talk sparked Steph 62-point game originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Even some of the greatest shooters get it handed to them, and that’s exactly what happened to eight-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard during the 2020-21 season.
And like many others around the league, it came at the hands 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 typically are special, he explained on the “Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch & Mike Robinson” how one 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 had won their first couple championships and they were struggling,” Lillard explained. “People were double-teaming Steph, triple-teaming Steph. We played them back-to-back times in San Francisco. So we played them the first time, and we beat them. We did the same thing the other teams [were doing] to Steph, we were double teaming, switching. And [the media] was like, ‘Dame, teams are giving Steph a lot of attention. They’re fouling him. They’re being physical with him.’
“And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know how he feels because when my team was down, we were struggling, and they weren’t respecting who I was on the court with at the time. They were guarding me like that.’ And I was like, over the years, Steph’s played with a lot of vets, they knew how to get him the ball, they knew how to get him open, they knew how to play. I said but now he kind of sees something different because it’s different now.”
But the way it was interpreted and relayed by the media wasn’t the way Lillard meant it.
However, whether Curry knew that or not, he responded the only way he knew how.
“And they took it and spun it like I was saying, ‘Now you see how it is, now he’s going to see if he could still do it.’ But really, I f–k with Steph. I would never say no backhanded weird s–t about Steph. I wouldn’t do it about anybody but definitely not about him because I respect him. So after I say it, we go play them again two days later and Steph comes out and he’s shooting every time. Obviously, he’s a competitor. I’m a competitor. So I’m going to try to get at him just like he’s going to try. So he’s coming out and he’s shooting, shooting, shooting. And Steph’s the type that he’s not going to announce like, ‘I heard what you said,’ or ‘You said this, you said that,’ he’s just going to come out — he’s a true competitor.
“So he comes out and he is hitting 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 trying to make a statement because you thought I meant it like that. It is what it is. He ended up having like 62. He running around celebrating. So after the game I shake his hand and we walk off. And I’m like, ‘Damn, [he] just got my ass.’ My comments weren’t even a shot at all, but I definitely got got that day.”
Hey, Dame, it happens to the best of ’em.
Lucky for him, he’s now in the Eastern Conference and only has to face Curry in the Bay once a season. And by now, he’s likely learned to choose his words more carefully.