Damian Lillard is enchanting everybody with his performances in the bubble. He earned the newly-created Bubble MVP award after leading his Blazers to the postseason even though they started 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies. Lillard activated playoffs mode way before the rest of the players in the league and these are the results, he took his team to the big stage and now are 1-0 up over the Los Angeles Lakers, the 1st seed in the Western Conference.
These performances have created plenty of debates around the bubble, including the best point guard in the league and the best player in the entire association. Dame went from being part of the debate of the best PG in the league with Stephen Curry to be considered the best NBA player at this moment. At least that’s what ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith thinks about the Portland Trail Blazers star.
On Wednesday’s edition of First Take, Smith was breaking down the result of the Blazers victory 100-93 over the Lakers, claiming that Lillard is the best player in the league right now.
“Damian Lillard is the best player in the National Basketball Association,” Smith said. “Plain and simple. He was the MVP of the bubble, he ended the final three games scoring over 30. When you look at what he did last night, those long-range daggers, give Gary Trent a lot of love defending LeBron James to hit the big time 3, give my man Melo some love finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, he hit a big-time 3 over the last two and a half minutes, give him all credit, but what it really really comes down to is Damian Lillard. Besides Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, this brother, the marksmanship, the sniper-like abilities — he’s the best basketball player in the world right now. You combine that with the fact that the Lakers can’t seem to shoot, and ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem in LA.”
"Damian Lillard is the best player in the NBA right now."
—@stephenasmith pic.twitter.com/xqxRYAVEgw
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 19, 2020
Dame is inspired; he’s a man on a mission and he won’t stop until he wins or he gets beat. The Lakers are a very good team but they haven’t been the same squad they were before the shutdown. They need to find themselves again and recover that level they showed before the coronavirus outbreak. That way, the Blazers will be the ones in trouble, but right now, it’s the other way around.
It looks like Dame Time is here to stay unless the Lakers decide to stop it.
