• Damian Lillard was honest about the challenges of the 2020 Bubble
• He doesn’t discredit the Lakers championship win and claimed everyone was as healthy as they could be
• He also opened up about the relaxed environment of the bubble
Damian Lillard had one of the best stretches of his career during the 2020 Orlando Bubble. Lillard was so good that people genuinely thought his eighth-seeded Blazers would upset the one-seeded seed Lakers in the first round. The Lakers dominated their way to the title and Lillard doesn’t agree with people who try and discredit that accomplishment.
“I felt like that was the best version of me to that point, so I don’t understand what people mean. I feel like that was hard to win because people were fresh. You got people talking about mental health, we stuck on a resort, I didn’t deal with all that. Based on how my body felt, we will never see a more fresh version of the opposition than we did at the time. There are players that lose that battle to getting tired or getting in late and not sleeping. Now, n***as is out here, Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray are going for 58 in the playoffs… It counts to me. Why doesn’t it count? Nobody else won it. Everybody had the same opportunity. Why didn’t they win it?”
Damian Lillard speaks on the people who try to discredit the Lakers championship in 2020 in the bubble on Back on Figg pic.twitter.com/GciM2AUjh4
— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2Blog) September 19, 2023
The Bubble was one of the most competitive and pure forms of basketball, as it saw players come off a multi-month break and immediately head into the playoffs after a few warmup games. The unique setting of it makes people question its validity, but it is asinine to do so.
There were 16 teams in the playoffs that could have capitalized the same way the Lakers did. They weren’t favored to win heading into the postseason behind the Clippers and Bucks, but the other teams crumbled under the pressure. That isn’t grounds to say that the Lakers going through that and winning isn’t a ‘legitimate title’.
Damian Lillard Talks More About Bubble Life
Damian Lillard had a lot more to say on the matter, even giving insight into life in the bubble. We have heard about the mental health struggles that many players had but for Lillard, it was one of the most relaxing environments in which he played competitive basketball.
“I was going to the pool in the bubble, on our resort. We would play at one o’clock, I’d go to the pool, cold tub, and all that stuff, then go to the main pool. It’ll be James (Harden), Russ, and Robert Covington over here, everybody was at the pool. It was like a pool party for real. You’re seeing all these different players. All the teams were cliqued up but we at the same pool. You’re seeing everybody at the pool, so it was a relaxed environment.”
Some players did struggle with being away from family and loved ones, something that is totally understandable. But using these unique conditions, especially when the NBA also tried to give the players as comfortable a stay as possible, to discredit the team that won is unfair.
Damian Lillard Went Off In The Bubble
Damian Lillard was cooking up his opponents in the bubble ruthlessly. He averaged 37.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 9.6 assists in the eight warmup games, dropping 61 points on the Dallas Mavericks in that process as well. He mentioned earlier that it was the healthiest he felt.
Given this red-hot form, the Blazers went into the playoffs as an eighth seed facing the Lakers. Lillard credits the Lakers title with good reason. His incredible performances from the warmup games fizzled when put to the test in front of that Lakers’ defense. He averaged 24.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in the four games he played of that 4-1 series loss. He shot only 40.6% from the field.
He’s had stretches of amazing performances like in the bubble since, but that was the second-last time he’d play in the Playoffs. Hopefully, he can find his way back to the postseason in a new situation or with the Blazers this season.
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