Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard engaged in a little Q&A session with fans on Monday, taking over the Blazers’ official social media account to share his thoughts on several topics, including his favorite players and the hardest ballers to guard for him.
To that last question, the point guard picked two of the biggest figures the Los Angeles Lakers has had in recent years; he picked LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
“Kobe my rookie year and [LeBron] my first few years… they different,” Lillard wrote on Twitter.
Kobe my rookie year and Lebron my first few years … they different https://t.co/bPS9wG71aD
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 14, 2020
The respect he had for Kobe was huge and he knew how to earn Kobe’s respect, as well. They challenged each other on the court every time they played and a young Lillard surprised Kobe when he went off on the Lakers as a rookie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–ARCAZ0MCk
On the defensive end, we all know who Kobe Bryant was, a complete killer and a scoring machine. LeBron, meanwhile, was part of the Miami Heat during Lillard’s first year in the league, but that version of the King was one to be afraid of.
James embraced that villain role in South Beach and plenty of players suffered that, including Dame. Lillard himself is also a great scorer and one player that can shoot from anywhere, as he showed last season with a series-clinching buzzer-beater over Paul George in the first round of the playoffs.
With all his talents and the things he’s done on the court, we’re pretty sure Dame also appears on this kind of list.
