Club Shay Shay - Damian Lillard

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

Shannon welcomes in 6-time NBA All-Star, Olympic Gold medalist, one of the best NBA players of all time & one of the greatest rappers in NBA history: Damian Lillard.Listen & subscribe to more FOX Sports podcasts: http://sprtspod.fox/applepodcasts#DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Renee Stubbs, and I'm obsessed with sports, especially tennis. Tune into my podcast each week to hear me and my friends in the community

break down the latest matches, including the US Open. Plus hear from some of the biggest names in the sport about what the future holds. It's about belief. And once you break through that, then you know you can win a Grand Slam. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast every Monday on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Russell Westbrook is having one of his worst seasons on the biggest stage. What advice would you give him? so I would just face it you know I would just

whatever the questions y'all ask me whether I think it's a dumb question or something that is self-explanatory or whatever just face it and deal with it or whatever like his Russell Westbrook's career and legacy is undeniable like that's just the bottom line the player the career he's had

what he's accomplished the things that he's done, nobody else has been able to do it. All my life, been grindin' all my life. Sacrifice, hustle paid the price. Wanna slice, got the rollin' dice. That's why, all my life, I've been grindin' all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Che Che, and the guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today really needs no introduction.

He's a six-time NBA All-Star, Olympic gold medalist, a member of the 75th anniversary team, Dame time, Logo Lillard, one of the best NBA players of all time, and I believe he's the greatest rapper in NBA history. Say hello to Damian Lillard. Dame, how you doing, bro? Good, man. How you doing? Let's start with this. Of all the accomplishments that I just mentioned, six-time NBA All-Star, Olympic gold medalist, I forgot to mention you're an all-NBA player, 75th anniversary team, of those accomplishments right there, which do you think is the most significant one to you?

I would have to say the 75th anniversary team. And when I was announced on the team, I didn't even really know it was a real thing. I thought it was just, you know, people throwing their opinion out there who the 75 best players ever were. And then when it was like announced and I saw people posting it

and people, you know, was calling me like, you on the team. I thought it was just like, I actually wasn't even keeping track of it to see if I was going to be on the team. Cause I didn't know it was a real thing. And, um, after it was announced, you know, it was a, it was a great honor for me, man. Um, especially with myself just playing, you know, 10 years now. And, um, when I got to Cleveland, it really, it really set in like, man, you know, I'm looking around like, do I belong here with these dudes? It was crazy. And that, that made me realize how,

how great of an accomplishment. When you're in that room and you look around and you see Dr. J and Akeem Elijah one, and you see Mike and you see Magic and you see all these guys and you're like, man, I'm here. Did you reflect like, man, a kid from Oakland, a guy that they said never was going to make it. I'm in the room with the legends. No, it was, if there was ever any moment in my career of like validation,

that was it, you know? And like I said, I was in there and I was looking around like, man, do I, do I belong in here? Like, this is really the best of the best. I played a video game with these dudes. I bought these dudes shoes, you know, the whole nine. So like it was, if it was ever a moment of validation, that was it. And then to have so many of them come up to me and tell me like, no, you, you deserve to be here. You know, you, you earned your way here.

So just knowing that something like this is not just a, you know, a selection or a media selection of people or, you know, random people getting to decide who the best are. You know, that's for somebody to come up with a list like this. It was a lot of, a lot of homework being done on how you will be on this list. And that, to me, that was the best feeling of all. Dame, you know, a lot of times we like when people say, well, we don't want validation. But we do because we play, we want the ultimate validation. We want other greats to say, yeah, you're one of us.

You're historic. You're a Pantheon great also. So to get that ultimate validation from a magic johnson or michael jordan or whomever the greats were to come up to you and say dang bro shake your hand you belong in this room hey i mean it's a feeling that i i can't even describe to you because i was literally looking around the room like that you know kareem you know, Jordan walked in. I'm looking around like, man, this is crazy. Like, I'm not here to just witness this. I'm a part of this group.

Like, I'm in the picture that we taking, and I got this blazer that they all wearing. It was crazy. And like you said, to hear it from those guys. It does seem surreal. I remember being in the Hall of Fame room, Dame, and seeing Mean Joe Green and the Buckuses and these guys. And I'm like, hold on, wait a minute.

How did I end up here? How did a kid from a population, a town of 3,500 people, went to Savannah State, the HBCU, another 3,000 students? How did I get in this room? And then you see them and they start shaking your hand. They patting you on the back. Man, I followed your career. You're an unbelievable

player. Welcome to the club. Man. So it is a great feeling. Congratulations. You're well deserving of this honor. Like you said, only 10 years. So guess what? And when they have the 100th anniversary team,

and there'll be young players, and you get called back for the 100th anniversary team, and then you're going to be like, man, I'm in a room with Dame Lillard. I'm in a room with LeBron. But when you – did you ever think you would be in – did you ever think you would be like – you said you didn't understand with the 75th anniversary team.

Did you ever think you'd be considered an all-time great? No, I've never looked that far into it. You know, like I've always been somebody that's in the moment because that's how my steps have always been in my career, not being heavily want to go to a team that fits me instead of thinking about man I want to try to get in the tournament I want to get picked I want to earn some minutes you know I've always had to stay in the moment and that's how my steps have always been so I've never looked far enough down the line to say I want to be one of the best ever it was like one thing at a time um so for it to come is just it's just crazy man. time. So for it to come is just it's just crazy.

Damn, you had surgery, I believe, on a core muscle. I'm watching you. I followed your career since you got into the NBA in 2012. You're unanimous all rookie rookie of the year selection. And so I've watched you. I'm watching you at the Olympics. That's when I really first noticed it. And I say, man, he's missing shots. He makes it his sleep. He's doing things that's very uncharacteristic. I watch you until the season. Did you think it was like, man, I'm just having

a bad, I'm just having a bad shooting. I'm in a slump, but I'm okay. When did you know something was really wrong with Dane? Uh, no, I knew I knew I was hurt. You know, and I think everybody that I was at the Olympics would have tell you, like, I knew I was hurt. They knew I was hurt. You know, and I think everybody that I was at the Olympics would tell you, like, I knew I was hurt. They knew I was hurt.

It was just I've never had a situation where I was hurt and I couldn't overcome it. You know, I think that was the biggest hurdle for me is like I knew I was hurt and people knew I was hurt. But in my head, I was like, I just got to I I just got to, you know, I just got to keep fighting. And I just got, you know what I'm saying? And then in my head, I'm like, I'm not an excuse maker. So I don't care how much I'm not looking myself, you know, even if it's through whatever this rough patch is, I'm going to find a way to get there. and then as the season went on eventually I just got to the point where it was like uh you know my my mind wanted my body to do something that it just wasn't in good enough health to do you know and I had to you know I had to look myself in the mirror and make that decision. Dame as athletes we're wired to have the surgery have whatever it is

and get back as soon as we possibly can because my brothers are out there fighting and i don't want them to fight alone so i need to get back as soon as i possibly can so i can be there and fight with them when did you say you know what this is a this is a situation i can't rush back i gotta do what's in the best interest of dame although i want to be there fighting with my brothers. I mean, when I did my homework on the procedure that I was having, I spoke to athletes

that had been through the surgery that I went through. I had a lot of talks with my surgeon before the surgery and after. To this day, we still talk regularly. And as well with the PT, Kara you know, she's somebody that I spoke to, you know, every single day, pretty much. And she's the PT that works with my surgeon. And she had the surgery herself.

So her kind of being with me every step of the way and knowing the symptoms and the feelings that I'm going through, kind of being with me every step of the way and knowing the symptoms and the feelings that I'm going through, I'm going through the process herself and also being a professional to get me back on track has been great. You know, plus my PT here in Portland, Eric is, uh, is well versed in it as well. So, um, I I've done the homework and I know that it's a process that I got to be careful about and I got to make sure that I'm checking every box and not rushing through that. You know, I don't want to do it to try to be like, all right, I'm back and I'm healthy. You know, I want to check every box and I'm not looking at 100. I'm looking at 150. Like, are we absolutely sure? Am I wrong in this area?

I'm looking for every vulnerable spot that I can put myself in to, you know, try to find that, that place where I might be re-aggravating something just so I know I'm good. And I'm not going to rush. I'm not going to rush through that process because when I do come back on the court, you know, I don't plan on having anything in the way. And, um, I want to perform at a level, a level that I wasn't even playing at before this. So, I mean, that's the only way to go is to take my time and make sure I'm doing it right. So how are you feeling?

How far along are you in the process? So are you shooting? Are you doing anything that's basketball related? Or are you still rehabbing? Well, I mean, I had surgery on January 13th. And I was cleared to kind of move forward with doing stuff on the court so i've been i've been going pretty aggressive you know you can't just say all right i'm okay you got to start searching for those areas where it's like i feel good but like let's let's go searching for

something let's go searching for something that could come up if it's just reactive or if i'm at this angle or if i'm in this vulnerable position and then let's try to be strong in that position. And then you try to find another spot like that just to make sure that everything is where it needs to be, you know, changing direction, being in, you know, lower to the ground and twisting and spinning and doing reaction drills and doing things full speed, coming to a stop, changing direction, things like that where you're literally trying to find something that, oh, this could bother me, that could bother me.

And then, you know, you do the recovery stuff, the soft tissue work, the stretching, hot tub, the cold tub, and you come back and do it again. That's kind of the stage that I'm in is just getting more and more aggressive. And that's also a process that I'm going to take my time getting through. Well, since you've been away, a lot of things have transpired. You started losing some games. They trade CJ. They trade Norman Powell.

They trade Covington. What's going through your mind when you learn of this, like, okay, me and CJ, we've been in this thing. We kind of built this thing. What with the new Trailblazers, the way you see them now, CJ and I have a big hand in this building this thing. What were your reaction to the trade? And why weren't you and CJ quite able to get to the, to the, the,

the championship game, maybe win the chip? I mean, when the trade happened, it, I mean, it, it hurt me, you know, it hurt me, you know? It hurt me, you know, to this day, I still, you know,

when I, I tell CJ all the time, even now, when we still talk, you know, I'm like, man, I'm watching these games,

I can't believe you play for the Pelicans, you know? It's crazy, and he telling me like, yeah, man, it's been cool, but it's weird,

you know? Like, it's different for me, and me and C, we wasn't just teammates, you know, a backcourt, we like, was really partners, you know? Right. So it's different for me. And me and C, we wasn't just teammates, you know, a back where we like was really partnered. You know, it's tough to deal with. And I think the fact that I haven't had to actually play without him has allowed it to be like more of a smooth transition than it would be if I was actually playing. It would be real weird for me. Right. But that one that one hurt me to this day.

Right. But that one that one hurt me, man, to this day. And to answer about us not being able to, you know, get it. I think, you know, we did what we could. You know, me and CJ every season at the beginning, every season before camp, we would, you know, meet up with each other and it would be the same conversation. Like, look, it's going to be times that I'm going to get on your ass. I need you to accept it. It's going to be time where you're going to get on your ass. I need you to accept it. It's going to be time where you're going to get on my ass and I'm going to accept it. We got to hold each other to that standard. And no matter what happened, if we if we struggling, if we doing well, you know, if people talking bad about us or whatever, we're going to fight together.

We're going to fight our way out of it. And that was like we always had. And I knew I could count on that and trust that. So, you know, once you get to that top level, you know, is it's not just about me and CJ at that point. You know, and we weren't a healthy team. We didn't have NERC in the Western Conference finals. I feel like that would give us a much better chance. But the deeper that you get in the playoffs, teams just start to take things away from you. You know, they give you more attention. Like I'm getting double teams and I'm getting trapped. And, you know, CJ is getting more attention and it forces you to, you know, they they're going to put the ball where they want. Teams are going to force the ball to go where they want the ball to go. Yes. Sometimes that's putting guys in a position that they haven't been in a lot.

And at the biggest stage, you know, with the most on the line. So, you know, that can be tough because even if somebody's going to come through and play well, it's hard to sustain that when that hasn't been what you've had to do. And me and CJ didn't play our best in that series, you know, up to that point. And, you know, I think a lot of things go into that. You know, we hadn't played that far into the postseason. Sometimes you just don't play well. And the season being longer, you know, I think teams now,

guys are able to rest throughout the season. You know, in the 80-game season, you know, they might not play back-to-backs. And they, at the end of the year, maybe they played in 61 games. You know, that's 21 nights off as opposed to, you know, the way our team has been set up. We've had to fight every night. We've had to play every night. And, you know, that can be exhausting. And that's

something that, as I've gotten older, you realize that when you plan on playing further into the postseason, you've got to play chess. You know, you've got to make sure that your body and your mind is able to be there for the long haul. And I think all of those things played a part in us not being able to, you know, actually get to where we wanted to get to. You got $30 million under the cap.

You have two lottery picks. Dame is the general manager. What are we looking for? How do we get Portland to be what we see the Phoenix Sun? We saw them go 8-0 in the bubble, continue to build the next year, and here they are to have the best record in the NBA. How does Dane do that in Portland? He's the general manager.

You got $30 million under the cap, and you got two lottery picks. If I'm the general manager, I'm looking at, at like you just said i'm looking at what phoenix did you know nobody saw phoenix coming you know it was like man you know you had people saying devin booker should leave and devin booker should do this and phoenix is you know they want they were considered one of the bad teams you know me playing against them four times a year, I always knew that they had the makeup. It was just, they need a piece here,

they need a piece there. So, if, if I'm GM, I'm looking at how Phoenix did it because they went from

the bottom literally to the top. They did. That's not easy, but if you look at what they did, they had Devin Booker. You know,

they had a really good player, a star player. And they got a lot of, they got what they did, they had Devin Booker. You know, they had a really good player, a star player. And they got the number one overall pick with Devin Booker. DeAndre Ayton was the number one overall pick while they had Devin Booker. But the thing, the piece that they got was a Chris Paul. So how do we trade for a piece? This is the thing. They got Chris Paul, but they also got Jay Crowder. Yes.

And they also had something with Mikael Bridges. Yes. I mean, it's not just and then you look at like Cam Johnson and, you know, not campaign. Look at the players they're putting out. There is. It just goes together. You know, right. So like and I think we're in a position to do. Like, I'm here. We already have me. We have a quality center, you know. We already have Ant. Like, Ant is. Yeah, man, he coming.

He coming. That young fella coming, Dane. He coming. So, like, now it's like, okay, we're going to end up with two picks most likely. Two lottery picks most likely. We got money. We have the full mid-level. You know, we got a lot of tools.

We got a lot of flexibility. It's just a matter of us using what we have to fill in those pieces in the way that the Suns did. What if they trade those lottery picks and go get you a proven all-star, all-NBA player? You cool with that? All-star, all-NBA player. You cool with that? Definitely, because we have a very big trade exception that we get into.

Right. If I'm the GM, all of those things are in play. You know what I'm saying? My son just walked in. All of those things are in play if I'm the GM, but that's why I said we got a lot of tools. You know, we got a lot of things that we can do to put ourselves in a much better position next season. Dame, you've been one of the guys, one of the few guys

that's a superstar that says, no, you did it. You want to stay. You want to build. We saw what happened with Giannis because they were saying the same thing about Giannis. But what helped Giannis is that they went and got a holiday yeah they like you said they surrounded okay we got Chris Middleton we got Giannis and you put another piece holiday was the guy that put them over the top I don't care what Giannis is Giannis but holiday could could lock the opposing team's best player down, hold him below his average, and go get you 20.

Yeah. I mean, that's what it is. You know what I mean? Like, Giannis was this Giannis before Drew Holiday got there. Yeah, exactly. Like, he was the MVP and the defensive player of the year before this. Correct. They went and got the Drew Holiday.

They went and got Bobby Portis. You know what I'm saying? Yes. And these are very good players to me because I play against them. I know what they're capable of, which is why I understand it. But to, you know, the average person,

they're going to be like, he's not, you know, a star. They're not this or that. But I know what they bring to a team. And that's all Giannis needed, and I'm not as gifted as Giannis. I'm not seven feet tall and all that, but I

have things about me that I bring to the table that I know how to dominate a game, and I know that if we're able to go out and get the tools that can compliment me and Nert and Nas and Nert and Nas and, you know, Josh Hart and Joe Ingles, who I love for us.

I love Joe Ingles for us. I'm an off an injury. But like when you get to, when you, when you're in a position that we're in, we can go get some guys that are very good players. Like you said, that can also compliment what we have and that could take us to that level. So that's what I'm looking at, you know, that can also complement what we have, and that can take us to that level. So that's what

I'm looking at, you know, going into this offseason. I know Chauncey. I was in Denver when Chauncey was in high school. Now he's your head coach. What has he brought to the table? What is it about Chauncey that you love so much about his coaching style? I think the number one thing is,

you know, he's a player's coach. You know, from a. From a position of, you know, he's with us, like it's not like me and him have a tight relationship, but, you know, he don't really deal with C.J. You know, him and C.J. like he's literally cool and has some type of connection to everybody, you know, and part of that is because he played, you know. Correct. He has that player energy about him. Like, he'll come out there and shoot. And before practice starts, you'll see him out there shooting

and playing one-on-one in the post. And, you know, he's just not afraid to call it as it is. You know, he call it how he see it. He'll call you out in practice. He'll call you out in the game. You know, he's won as a player. He's won in his league. And, you know, he knows what it looks like and what it feels like. And he's he's very demanding of that with our team.

And I think because people have to respect it, because they know that he's he's done it and he's been around a long time. I think it goes, you know, it goes a little bit further that way. And that's my favorite thing about him is he's not in there just trying to be friends with everybody. I think it goes, you know, it goes a little bit further that way. And that's my favorite thing about him is he's not in there just trying to be friends with everybody. It's like it's a certain command that he has over the room, you know, when he's walking out of his office onto the court. And that's probably my that's probably my favorite thing. You said something very interesting because having been an ex-professional football player, coaches would call even the superstars out. But I noticed in basketball, it's very rarely that if you're a superstar to the Dame Lillard, the Kevin Durant, the LeBron

James, the top tier, the top eight, nine players, they normally call out somebody else when they're really talking to Dame or they're really talking to KD or talking to LeBron. You said, I like that about Chauncey because if I mess up, I want you to tell me that I messed up so I can fix it. Yeah. I mean, don't nobody want to just offer themselves to get yelled at. You know what I'm saying? I didn't tell you that they just lying.

I don't like to get yelled at or like to get called out, but like I accept that. You know, I don't think I'm a perfect player or I don't, you know, I shouldn't be called out for my mistakes because I make them all the time. But I think with Chauncey, it's a level of respect there to where, you know, and I had the same thing with Terry. If he was to say something to me, I would accept it. Right.

As long as it's not mean-spirited. As long as you're not out-brunk. Hold on now. Come on now. You do realize I'm a man. I understand that you're the coach. You're in a position of authority. But let's not be disrespectful with the correction.

Don't disrespect me. But that's why I say it's a level of respect. Yeah. If I say I want to win and I say that I want these things to happen, I'm going to allow you to do your job so you can help me do mine to the best of my ability. That's what it is. It comes with that. Are you one of these guys that when you're

not playing basketball, I don't watch basketball? What am I watching it for? I can't do anything. I'm not playing. Or are you watching? Are you following what's going on now? No, I'm a definitely mean i'm a i'm a definitely a student of the game you know i haven't usually like during the season when i'm playing i'm like rushing home for four o'clock to make sure the first game on the east coast that

come on you know detroit against indiana i'm gonna sit there and watch it okay because i'm always looking for action you know i'm looking for who playing well, what type of things do they run, and I'm seeing what they run. I'm like, oh, that's our version of whatever, you know, and that helps me not have to play super hard or waste a lot of energy as opposed to just thinking through the game and manipulating situations when I come across these teams. And I just like to watch hoop so I

mean I do watch a lot of basketball but since I haven't been playing um a lot of the I guess extra a lot of the extra parts that come with professional sports have jumped out louder to me that now that I'm not playing. So it's less attractive. So, you know, I don't – I guess I'm not watching as religiously, but I'm watching a lot, you know, because I love to watch the game. See, that's what – I couldn't – like, if I'm going to play – and you're going to play everybody, so it's a lot harder for you not to watch someone on television because you're going to play every single team at least twice home and away.

But, see, if I'm playing a team, Dane, I couldn't watch because I felt it was going to play every single team at least twice home and away but see if i'm playing a team dame i couldn't watch because i felt it was gonna give me a false sense if they played really bad i'm thinking to myself man we're about to run through these dudes if they play really really good now all of a sudden i'm thinking like oh man we got our work cut out tonight so i don't want to watch anybody that i might have to play. No, but I mean, but for me, like I said, I'm going to go home and I'm watching all these games. So I might see Utah play three times over a matter of seven days. I might see them play three times and we play them next week. So you're going to see them play well and blow somebody out.

Then you might see them play a team that's struggling and barely beat them. Then you're going to see them lose to a good team. Then you're going to see them win two in a row and then play them in two games. So, like, it ain't like I'm watching them two days before we play them only and then they blow out a good team. And I'm like, man, like, we might get hit too, you know? Like, I'm – I'm watching so many games that I'm seeing them have their good nights. I'm seeing them struggle. I'm seeing them have their good nights. I'm seeing them struggle.

I'm seeing them get in the close game and get one up at the end. And I'm seeing them come back on the team. I'm seeing so many different things about these teams. But throughout all of that, I'm seeing them execute. I'm seeing where they struggle, where they're struggling, how Steph is killing them defensively. Okay, how did Kyrie kill him? How did this person kill him?

How did this person play against him? How did they guard this guy? You know, like, so I'm able to piece together without writing down notes. It's like, miss me, I'm just noticing these things. Right, right. And then when I actually watch the clips, I already know what I'm getting ready to see.

You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. So, like, it's different. I got two court-sized seats. I got two tickets. You and your wife going to the game. What current NBA player? Who you going to see? You got court-sized seats. Who you going to see? I got court-sized seats.

I'm going to see Kyrie Irving. I just love the way Kyrie play. I love it. I just love the way his game look. He ridiculous. He ridiculous, Dave. He ridiculous with them handles, man.

That's ridiculous how he do it. It's his handles, but it's just the way he move and how he can play the game. Like, he got the most beautiful game ever. Like, just the way it look. I'm going to see Kyrie Irving and I'm going to see Devin Booker. Wake up with football every morning

and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee.

No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claibon, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now.

This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You like Book's game? Book's my favorite player in the NBA. The thing is, it used to be the big. Dump the ball down to the big, he turn around. Now it's the three. But you mentioned guys that got the mid-range game. Book is good. I mean, he can shoot the three, but Book is the mid.

Book is like 15 to 18. Kyrie got it all. Kyrie is the best finisher in the paint for his size as a guard that I've ever seen. From the three-point to the rim, it ain't been very many people that can see Kyrie Irving with his handles. I'm not saying he's the best player, but when you

watch him, like you said, you love watching his game. He can shoot the three. He got the mid-range. The English, the art in which he can put on the rim, I can finish with either hand at the rim. It's just crazy. It's because it's not athleticism. It's skill.

You know what I mean? He's not a bug in the rim hanging in the air. No, no. It's craftiness and touch and feel. You know what I mean? It's just a knack for doing it. And it's craftiness and touch and feel. You know what I mean? It's just a knack for doing it. And it's a gift. You know, you can tell he worked on it, but he had the gift to begin with.

So I agree with you. I agree with you for sure. Damn it. All sports go through this. The old guard seemed to be so unwilling to credit the new guard. Well, this guy, he couldn't have played in my day. He ain't tough enough. Why do you think it's so hard for the older players to give this current

generation, regardless of sport, basketball, football, baseball, it doesn't matter. Why is it so hard for them to give credit where credit is due? I mean, I think just so they don't feel forgotten. I think part of it is like them making sure that they't feel forgotten. I think part of it is them making sure that they're not forgotten. Like, yeah, but it was harder when I did it. Before I give them some credit,

I got to make sure people know. Give my arrow credit. It was different, you know what I'm saying? And sometimes that's true, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes it's true, but I think more people recognize it than the people that make those comments. Right. Realize, you know, like. I know that, you know, the game might be harder if, you know, some guys play in the 90s, just like if some guys from the 90s played in this era, it might be a little bit too much like this. Yes. And the guards that was, you know, killing in the 90s might come to this era, and the coverages now is like,

you ain't, we ain't, you know, we don't let him come off and shoot threes, but he not getting in the paint. We're going to be in the drop, you know. Right. It's different coverages. And, you know, some people couldn't handle the ball that great. They might have got trapped and made them a little more uncomfortable. And the physicality might have bothered some people in our era a little bit more.

Right. The lack of foul calls and the pace of the game being slow and being in a half court more might have limited some guys now that like to play in transition. So it's a lot of things. It's a lot of factors that go into that. But, I mean, I think it's mainly because people don't want to be forgotten. You know, it's always like. Well, Tim, if you agree with this statement, I'm not saying the guys are better in today's game,

but I'm saying you guys are more skilled. There's more guys that can shoot the ball the equivalent, if not better than Larry Bird. Because back then there were only a handful of guys that could shoot the ball like you, Steph, Clay, Kyrie, KD, Book. There were not that many guys that could shoot the ball, especially from distance. And even in the mid-range, like you guys shoot it.

I mean, like, a lot of – I it is it's tough to think about you know who shot the ball this that way you know like just going back you know when nobody shot the ball because now in today's game there is no bad shot you pull it bro you pull it up from 40 that's a great shot the only time you shot that shot back then in the 90s is that it was the end of the half or it was the end of a quarter. You didn't shoot that shot with 15 seconds on the shot clock. Got to pull up in transition from 30 now. Maybe like from deep is much newer, but if you go look at Mahmoud Abdul-Rahman,

you see like how coming off the screen, quick raise. That was his game. Like that's where I started when I was in college and I started to watch clips and stuff and him in high school and him at LSU and all that. That's when I started to

come off the screen, quick raise. Cross, cross, quick raise. Between the legs, split, pull up. I started doing that off of him. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't a lot of people doing that stuff. No. Pulling up and taking tough contested threes

and stuff like that. It was definitely not. They weren't taking contested threes like you guys take. The way you and Steph and Clay and guys shoot the three, even with a hand in their face, you better make that guy put that ball on the floor and move up that three.

Because if you just run out there and talk about, ah, that's a bucket of y'all. I mean, and that's like you said, guys are more skilled. It's the training, you know, the pace that guys train at now and how often people train now. Yeah, you're right.

That's 360, not Dame. Ain't no off time. Even if you guys do, I don't know how much you play golf. Obviously, you're right. We're going to get into that. But guys train so much more now. They're constantly working on that craft. There's no sitting the basketball down for three months.

I ain't touching the basketball for three months and I'm gonna pick it back up. You guys are constantly in the lab trying to create a better version of yourself. When I came in the league, and it just shows you like how fast it changed. I came in the league in 2012. And when I got to my first training camp, it was 40 year olds, you know.

I'm coming in with Jared Jeffries and I'm and other people who are coming into camp like in training camp was when they got in shape. Like, right. They touch no ball. This is when I touch the ball. You know, they tell you like, man, when the season or you got to take a break. I wouldn't touch a ball to August, you know, and you hear that. It's like, what? Like, that just sounds crazy. Right. It shows you now, like when the season and people take a couple, you know, and you're hearing that, it's like, what? Like, that just sounds crazy. Right. It just shows you now, like, when the season ends, people take a couple, you know, two weeks, they might go on vacation, come back from vacation and only catch and shoot, get a little sweat in,

some light work, and then you build from there. Right. But it used to be like, you just completely stopped until I got to play basketball again. So, like, the creativity and the amount of work that you put in on that creativity and adding things to your game is just on a different level now. All the way starting from elementary school, you're seeing eight-year-olds out here

shooting deep threes and playing off the dribble floaters, both hands, and crafty with the ball. So I think players now are definitely more skilled, and they work on it a lot more. Dame, you're in the era of the player empowerment. Whereas before, you stayed with a team until that team decided to get rid of you. Now, you're like, look here, get me some help or get me up out of here.

Are you okay with that? I seem like the old guard are not okay with that. They don't like that LeBron James was able to do what he did. They don't like that KD. They don't like that some of these other guys, like, you know what? Bro, y'all ain't trying to win here.

I'm going somewhere else where they're trying to win, and they're going to help bring players in to help me win. It seems like the old guard is that they had to stay in one locale until they got old and couldn't really do it anymore, and then the team moved off on them. Are you okay with the player empowerment movement?

I mean, I think, first of all, to each his own. You know, like if that's what feels fine to you and makes you happy, then you should do it. I think you should do it. You know, like you said, for Brian, Brian has won a championship everywhere he's done it at. He even

circled back to Cleveland and won a championship. And so KD the same. He went to go to state. He won his two. To me, it's to eat your song, but it's not going to work out for everybody you know right you'll have some people do it and it won't work out and you just gotta be prepared to deal

with the downside of that you know what i mean like if you don't if you do decide to do it and you don't win and now they like it's not working and this team get blown up now you want another team and you know you end up on three teams you know or whatever in a in a short period of time and now you use that power and now you know people that you've used that power against is going to be looking at you like no when you was the man and you was making all these demands and you had all the power now i got the power you know and and they're going to do you wrong because they feel violated. You know, but I don't I don't think it's always that type of vibe when people say, look, I want to go somewhere else and win.

I don't think it's always that. But more times than not, when guys are handling in a way of like, I got the power, you know, then you just you just making people or you put people in a position where they're going to wait to that opportunity where your power is gone and they got the power back and, you know, they're going to try to do you wrong. And you just got to be willing to deal with those consequences. If that happens. Damn, you got to deal with the consequences either way, because if you don't win, they're going to say you didn't win.

And then if you go join another team, they was like, well, he went and jumped on the bandwagon. They criticized KD for going to golden state. They criticize LeBron. And if you stay, join another team, they's like, well, he went and jumped on the bandwagon. They criticized KD for going to golden state. They criticize LeBron. And if you stay, they're going to say, well, damn little,

it's one of the best players to never win a championship. So you're going to get the criticism. So you might as well be happy with whatever you do it because you're going to get criticized either way. To me. And that's exactly. And to me, it ain't even about the criticism.

Like, and that's why I say to each his own, because that's how I feel. And to me, it's not about the criticism criticism. Like, and that's why I say to each his own, because that's how I feel. And to me, it's not about the criticism. You're going to get criticized. Correct. At some point, regardless, that's what comes with our job. That's why we make the money that we make.

And that's why we play at the level that we play at, because, like, we're the best of the best. Why aren't you playing well? Why didn't you step up in this big moment? Like, that's all a part of the game. And you're going to get criticized, and I accept that. But that's why I take the stance that I take, because there's no way around the criticism.

Even if I do win a championship, the following season after that, if we don't win it, I'm going to get criticized after I just won it. After sticking it out. So, like, it's going to happen. So, for me, it's like, if I know that, I'm just going to stick to my guns and do what I know fulfills me

and what makes me happy and what I want to see happen because I'm going to deal with that regardless. And then, when I'm done playing, you know, they're going to talk about me every six months when they're talking about some old story or whatever, but a lot of y'all not going to be thinking about us like that. Y'all going to be thinking

about Bron and KD and, I don't know, and Giannis. You know what I'm saying? Like, they ain't going to come across it because of, you know, they're multi-MVPs and did all this stuff, but, I mean, y'all not going to be talking about us like that, so I don't, you know, I just, I know that it comes with it.

I want to win a championship. I want to win an MVP. That's what will make me happy. You know what I'm saying? That would make you happy, but it would make you more happy if you were able to accomplish that in Portland. Winning a championship, winning an MVP in Portland would make you more happy than winning those two accolades somewhere else. Am I hearing you correctly?

Yeah. I mean, I would be extremely happy regardless, you know, and I think one thing that people misunderstand when I say it is like, they think like, man, you're going to be happy regardless. And I'm like, I know I would be extremely happy, but I'm just saying like, nobody know me like I know me. And when I go home at night and when I turn that light off and I lay my head down, don't nobody got to deal with those feelings

and what's in my head like I do. You know, you know that too. Right. Like I want to do that and be happy with my, and be happy with myself the way that I want to be happy with myself. You know what I mean? And I know what that looks like and that's the way that I want to be happy with myself. You know what I mean? And I know what that looks like,

and that's the way that I'm trying to get it done. Russell Westbrook is having one of his worst seasons on the biggest stage. You know when you play with a team like the Lakers, with what's expected of this team, championship or nothing. You play with a Kevin Durant, or you play with the Boston Celtics. If you could give him some advice, if he were to call you and say, Dane, bro, you know they own me. You hear they own me.

How you think I should do? What, what, how should, how, what should I say? What should I do? What's going on, bro? What do you see? What advice would you give him? I mean, if I had to tell him anything, I would just tell him just, you know, face the music with it, you know?

Like I just said, the criticism, like, it's going to happen, and you're playing in one of the biggest markets. So I would just face it, you know? I would just, whatever the questions y'all ask me, whether I think it's a dumb question or something that is self-explanatory or whatever, just face it and deal with it or whatever. Russell Westbrook's

career and legacy is undeniable. That's just the bottom line. The player, the career he's had, what he's accomplished, the things that he's done, nobody else has been able to do it. With all these triple-doubles, I don't care if you're stat-chasing or whatever people want to say. If I try to go every game and get a triple-double for a whole season, I can't do it like with all these triple doubles i don't care if you stack chasing or whatever people want to say if i try to go every game and get a triple double for a whole season i can't do

it and there's a lot of other people that can't do it either like that's good that's hard in itself to actually do it whether you're trying to do it or not right i mean he's what he's done you cannot it's undeniable so um you know like was just saying, we're going to get criticized regardless. You know, his may be a little more harsh because he's Russell Westbrook. He's playing for the Lakers. He's playing with LeBron. Like, you know, it's going to be more harsh. But, you know, I would just face it and be like, look, you know, I'm struggling.

I'm still working at it. I'm trying to get through it. It might not be what y'all want to hear, but, you know, I'm struggling. I'm still working at it. I'm trying to get through it. It might not be what y'all want to hear, but I'm just, I'm trying to. But you would acknowledge it. You would acknowledge that I am struggling, that I'm not playing up to par, and you would not be dismissive of a question that they ask. Because I think sometimes he become confrontational. Bro, we see.

You can't say you're not struggling when you go 2 of 17 or you go 4 of 21. You can't say you're not struggling because am I supposed to believe my eyes or what you're telling me? I mean, sometimes you struggle because of the situation you're in, the market you're playing in, the amount of attention you put on everything.

It makes everything so much worse. Like, if you actually look at his numbers, you know, there's people shooting a worse percentage. And there's people averaging worse numbers. Like, his numbers are not bad numbers. It's just the actual, like, the way the game is being played may not be what people want to see or was expected because the ball ain't in his hand all the time.

He's not as much in control of the game as people are accustomed to seeing. And that's a major adjustment. Right. Nobody's ever been in that position to go from, I've been Russell Westbrook my whole career, and now I'm off the ball way more. You know what I'm saying? It's just so much more of a different situation for him,

but nobody got to live that. So it's easy to kick somebody when they're down and all that. But if I had to tell him something i would just face it and just you know and just deal with it but i do think like it didn't go into the extreme you know as far as it's almost like people just see something that they think everybody's going to agree with if they just talk shit about russell westbrook so everybody's just throwing their stuff at him and saying you know it's going overboard at this point, in my opinion. Like, it's just crazy to me. Oakland, you grew up in Oakland.

When Dane was 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, what did Dane want to be? Did Dane want to be, obviously, basketball. You had to play basketball. Did rap come into them? Did rap come into the mix? Because there was a lot going on. You got Too Short. You got Marshawn Lynch.

You got Gary Payton. So it's rich soil for a lot of different things. You got a football player, Marshawn. You got Too Short, who's a rapper. You got GP, who's on the 75th anniversary team, like yourself. So what's going on in young Dane Lillard's mind? I mean, when I was younger man i was you know i grew up in the neighborhood so i was around everything you know i'm saying i had

people was outside you know let's just put it like that people was outside and things were going on and i was around them and it was i had a decision to make every day, you know, am I going to choose right or wrong? You know, whether I think I'm going to get caught or not, am I going to choose right or wrong? And I think when you face with that type of pressure and those types of decisions every day, you know, it shapes you in a certain way, you know, especially when you're around these things, you know,

but like you said, we knew who Marshawn was, you know, like my brother was cool with Marshawn, my brother, we knew who Marshawn was, you know, like, my brother was cool with Marshawn. My brother the same age as Marshawn. My dad, you know, went to high school with Raphael Sadiq and new GP and B. Shaw and all these dudes, you know, so they and you probably

don't even know this. When you was on the Broncos, y'all won a Super Bowl. My cousin, my dad's cousin is Darian Gordon. Yeah, I know DG. Yeah, that's my cousin. So, like, when you around all this stuff, it's just that little bit of positive that you need. You know, you just need that little bit of inspiration.

And I always, you know, at school, everybody's like, Gary Payton, my cousin. And this person is my cousin. And I know this person. You know, it was always that type of energy and I think I held on to those types of things a little bit different you know what I mean just that little bit of positive you're like hold on

you know GP and he got out well he from here I can get out Raphael Sadiq too short Marshawn they from this area they got out why can't I no I always that's one thing I'll say is I always held on to those things like a little

tighter than I think a lot of the other kids was like. Like I'll never forget on the freeway on the 580 freeway in Oakland like you come in you know it goes from Emeryville all the way to Hayward

all the way through and when you're on that freeway, it's like all of the, you know, the townhomes up against the hill. But then at the top, you got the Oakland Hills and you can always see B. Shaw. You can always see B. Shaw house, the pillars on his house all the way from the freeway. I used to always look up there like, I'm going to give me a there like I'm going to get me a house up there. I'm going to get me a crib. I'm going to get me a crib up there by B-Shark when I go to the league. That's like I always

held on to that because it was like I could literally see his house from the freeway. I didn't know how to get there, but I knew you could see it from the freeway. All of those things, I always held on to it real tight. You know, like, man, it's possible. Did you play any other sports

growing up? Did you play football? Did you play baseball? Or was it just strictly basketball? I played baseball. I played football. I ran track. Hold on. What was it you played football? I played receiver. I played running back. I did everything. I was nice in football, too.

Hold on! So, what made you... Just a thing. My mom's only brother has always been a football coach. He was my coach. All my cousins... Like, I'm the only... My cousin that's on our team for the Blazers,

Keljim Blevins. That's my cousin. Me and him are the only two basketball players in our family. Everybody else played football. So you were nice with the football? That was nice. So how old were you when you decided to say, you know what? Basketball is the way I'm going to get that house up there by B. Shaw.

How old were you when you made that decision to say, you know what? I'm going to set baseball aside. I'm going to set baseball aside. I'm going to set football aside. And I'm going to focus strictly on basketball. Well, I stopped playing baseball early. Like right about middle school, I got hit right here and I was done. Football, I stopped once I got to high school.

Once I got to high school and I had like, and it was like, I saw how big dudes was and people was getting hurt and all that. Like it was like major injuries too. I'm like ACL and dislocated. Like I was just all that time. I was like, I'm cool. And then at the same time, I was also just getting, I was getting so much better that's how I was like, I'm cool. And then at the same time, I was also just getting, I was getting so much better in hoop naturally.

You know, even before I started to seriously train like that, I was just, the more I was playing, I was getting more athletic. I was able to shoot. And, you know, my feel for the game, just making the right plays and stuff like that was getting so much better. And then I played varsity as a freshman and that was it. So who did Dane, what players did Dane, like, when you were growing up, what basketball player do you like, man, he game nice.

I like that. Who did you follow closely when you were growing up? When I was a kid, I was a big Iverson fan. Okay. Like, A.I. was, and it's crazy because it wasn't the details of his actual game as much as it was his swag and, like, him being, like, one of the smaller players. And he's, A.I. was the, one of the few players that gave me the energy of people that I was around. Like, he gave, he, like, Allen Iverson felt like he could have been from my neighborhood. Yeah.

He gave me like, Allen Iverson felt like he could have been from my neighborhood. Yeah. Tattoos, the braids. He wore tall tees. He was sagging. The way he spoke, it was like, it was like I knew that I knew his type. You know what I mean? I knew his type of person. And it reminded me of a dude that was from what I was from.

Right. And, you know, how hard he played, you know, and it was almost like he was with whatever against whoever, and he was never surrounded by all the best. You know what I'm saying? And that's kind of why I'm like, that's kind of like what I'm. That's your mentality. Yeah.

You're not the biggest. You don't have top 10 players all time around you to play with. But you say, you know what? I'm six foot tall, 6'1". I can get it done. I saw AI do it. AI led a team to the NBA Finals. He won an MVP.

Hey, I think I'm nice like that too. Exactly. I always liked AI. He had the style that appealed to a kid like me. Everybody in my neighborhood loved AI. This is how much everybody in my neighborhood loved AI. We had a dude named Paul Marigny that was from Oakland. He ended up going to St. Mary's College

and he was like the person from Oakland that was supposed to like go to the league he ended up messing up his knee he still was good played overseas for a long time but I remember him playing against a dude from my neighborhood for $100 and a pair

of Iversons they played one on one-one for that. You know what I'm saying? Right. They just show you, like, he was – AI was everything. Right. I don't know if they're going to let you show up to the game

how AI used to come to the game, because Commissioner Stern, he changed that dress code. You can't come with four XT when you're medium or large, and you definitely can't come with the FUBU. All the stuff that's acceptable in that tunnel today, I bet you I could get away with dressing how I was in dress.

You think so? What? Do you not be seeing what people... I do. I think some of these dudes, I don't know where they come from. I saw Kuzma have a sweater that was a 50 extra large. I don't know where they come from. Man, I saw Kuzma had a sweater that was a 50 extra large. I don't know where he get that sweater from. You can wear that.

I can wear a tortilla. Come on, man. I read where you gave an impassionate speech. You were very young. I want you to tell me how old you were when you told your mom. She says, Mom, I'm going to go to the NBA. I don't know if your mom believed you at the time. I don't know if the people that around that heard the conversation

believed, like, bro, we don't know nobody in the NBA. We get regular jobs. We work nine to five. We don't become professional athletes. When you were telling your mom this, do you believe that she believed you? Did you believe the other people that heard you tell her this do you believe that she believed you did you believe the other people that heard you tell her this do you believe they believed you uh i mean i don't think nobody out there believed me to keep it 100 i don't think nobody believed it but i remember

the day i remember the day like it was it was yesterday because you my mom, the job that my mom worked, she, my mom went to work every morning at 4 a.m. my whole life until I got to the NBA. She went to work 4 a.m., got off at 3 a.m. You know, they would always give her a hard time. You know, like my mom lived a hard life and they would have a hard time about her production and this and that. It was always something.

And she was just having a real tough day that day and every day for me growing up like when i when i got out of school like we caught the bus you know what i'm saying like age we caught the bus like me my brother all my cousins we caught the bus and we never went home all of us caught the bus back to the neighborhood to my grandparents house and when our parents got off work they would all come pick us up from there. So it would be, you know, five o'clock every day on school days, whatever, around five o'clock, you know, my mom would be pulling up from San Ramon and then my auntie Van would be pulling up and then my auntie LaVada would be pulling up and it'd be about six, six cars outside just parked in front of the house.

And we would all just be outside. You know, it was like a summer day, but it was like a school day. And we would all just be, you know, our parents pulling up from work to pick us up. My grandmother's finishing up cooking. We all about to eat. And then that was when we went home. That was like an everyday thing. So I saw all my cousins and all my aunts and everybody every day because we all would get

picked up and they would sit outside in the car, you know, chopping it up or whatever. And we would all be outside playing. So, you know, this day, my mom was sitting in the car by herself and my auntie Van got in the car with her. And I could tell because my auntie Van is her oldest sister, her second oldest sister, but her oldest sister lived in um in south carolina okay so um i see my auntie van kind of like you know talking my mom down and kind of like being a big sister to her and i can see i know what my mom is going through it so i look you know and i see my mom kind of going through it. And that's when I went beyond the glory. Remember the show Beyond the Glory was like a big thing.

And I'm like, I just kind of went into it like, look, we've done, this ain't gonna last long. Like I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do that. And this, you know, this is pretty much how it's gonna go. And, you know, from that point on, it was like this show Beyond the Glory story. You know, that's why I kept saying everybody that was out there, but it was almost a joke, you know,

because I was like announcing it to everybody. Right. And I honestly don't think nobody out there really believed it, you know. They liked the fact that I was saying it, but I don't think they really thought like, I don't know if I really believed it for real. You were just trying to make mom feel better.

You trying to live mom's spirit. I would like to do this, but I don't know if this actually going to happen. Right. You go to Weber State. What's going on? You're like, hold on. Did anybody ever go to the NBA from Weber State?

So I'm going to be the first. I'm going to make history. I'm going to be the guy that changed the curse, the poverty curse that's stricken my family, that got us living here because I know I want better for my mom. I want better for my kids. I'm going to be the one that break this curse, but I'm going to have to do it from Weber State. I'm not going to do North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky, yada, yada, yada.

I will do it from right here. At that point, I was delusional. That was probably my biggest, that was probably my biggest strength is how delusional I was at that point. Right. Because when I showed up on campus, I literally was like, I'm going to go to the league.

I never thought like how many people made it from Weber State or, you know, our scouts don't come watch or none of that. At that time, Dame, how tall are you? How much do you weigh? When I got to Weber, I was about 5'11", maybe 165. Okay. And then I got there and, you know, I realized that, you know,

I didn't work hard enough and, you know, I didn't play hard know, I didn't, I didn't work hard enough and, you know, I didn't play hard enough. I didn't play fast enough. You know, I started to just realize like, man, it's, it's a little harder than I thought. We had our first conditioning test and like, I was, I damn near died, you know, like, and I was just like, man, like, if this is how hard it is at Weber state, like, can I, is this really what it meant for me? You know what I'm saying? Like I really questioned that after the first day to myself, this is how hard it is at Weber State, like, can I, is this really what it meant for me? You know what I'm saying? Like, I really questioned that after the first day to myself. This is hard. And the most important thing in that experience was I met Phil Beckner, who's my trainer right

now. And, you know, he was the person, and obviously I had, you know, my AAU coach, another father figure to me, Raymond Young, Phil Taylor, Dane Jones, you know my AAU coach another father figure to me Raymond Young Phil Taylor Dane Jones you know like all of those dudes kind of grabbed me in high school and they the ones that helped me get to that the point where I was getting recruited because I wasn't getting recruited for a long time but when I got to Weaver I met Phil Beckner who's my trainer now and he he was on my ass like you're not good enough you don't play hard enough you don't shoot good enough your handle ain't tight enough you don't get enough reps you rather be you know hanging out you don't get in the cold tub how many shots did you make get to like he

used to be waiting outside of all my classes that started at nine o'clock at 8 50 like you need to be here like he taught me what it meant to work hard. And, you know, everybody on campus thought me and Phil was crazy because it was like we was working out on campus in an arena at a local rec center. We was just all over the place just working, working, working, working. And, you know, I just made a jump from my first year to the end of my – from the start of my first year to the end of my first year,

I was first team all conference as a freshman. And my second year I stayed. So between that first and second year, I stayed at school with Phil the whole summer. And we just worked out, worked out, worked out. The next year I was MVP. And then I got on the draft boards after that. Like I was on the draft board after my sophomore year.

And he just kept pushing me. It was like nothing, nothing was good enough. So like once I got that little bit of taste, I saw my name on that mock draft. And then Phil was like blowing up Adidas, you know, like he was sending, like he, he still probably got it to this day, a hundred emails, just send them begging them to let me come to Adidas

nations where, you know, scouts will be there. Maybe players will play the top college players will play. And I never forget on my birthday, it was my birthday. I was in Utah during the summer, July 15th. And they sent the email, came back and I got in like two dudes. Like it was somebody from Baylor and somebody from Kansas pulled out and I got in and I went to Chicago. And that was the first time where like I played in front of scouts and all that stuff. And then that was pretty much it.

Dame, I'm going to get you out of here on this one. When it's all said and done, what's Dame Lillard's story? How does Dame want his story written? How does Dame Lillard write his story? I mean, I'm writing it as I go, you know, but I think when I'm done playing, I want people to look back and be like, you know, not only did Dame have a great career on the floor, you know,

he accomplished a lot on the floor, but I want people to look back and understand how much BS goes on, you know, in this industry and what happens behind the scenes versus what people get told publicly and the narratives and all these different things. You know, I want people to remember me, like he got it done on the court and everything that people said about him and everything that he said about himself and everything that he said about himself and everything that he said he stood for everybody we've ever talked to checked it off

and said it was it was the realest of the real and there was no do this behind closed doors and do something different publicly like that's what I want people to remember for the quality of the the quality of the person that I've been able to be along with the quality of you know player that I've become you know and the status and all the things that I've accomplished in my career I'm gonna get you out of here on this one

I need you Mount Rushmore rappers or guys Mount Rushmore and I need you Mount Rushmore NBA players Mount Rushmore rappers I'm need your Mount Rushmore NBA players. Mount Rushmore rappers, I'm going to go with Tupac. I'm going to go with Jay-Z. I'm going to go Tupac, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and I'm gonna go Biggie. Biggie, that's a hell of a list.

Okay, NBA players. NBA players, I'm gonna go MJ, Bron, Kobe, and... Kobe. And I'm going to say Magic. Nice list. Nice list. I really like the rap.

Because I don't know how you have a Mount Rushmore if Tupac ain't on it. I don't care what anybody say. I know there's some great young rappers, and if you got a Mount Rushmore and Tupac ain't on it, I'm throwing your list in the trash. I got to be on it. Dame, I really appreciate you giving me a little bit of your time today.

I know you're busy. Heal up. I need you to come back as Dame Dollar because I need you to let them go for the logo like you did before this injury. I know you will. Best of luck. Again, thanks, my man.

Hey, man, don't worry. Trust me. All right. You know, I got you on my end. You hold up your end. I got you on my end. Yep, for sure. Appreciate it, bro. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal.

Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolfe. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.