Damian Lillard has been making headlines for his trade request this offseason. But the Portland Trail Blazers point guard has also been trending of late for comments he made more than a year ago.
Back in April of 2022, Lillard was asked about Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole — then with the Golden State Warriors — during an appearance on “The Colin Cowherd Podcast.”
Cowherd quizzed Lillard about the latter’s opinion of Poole and whether he saw the youngster’s ascension coming during their previous matchups. Poole was having a career year at the time, with the interview being held right in the midst of the Warriors’ 2022 title run.
“We played against Golden State, and Steph was hurt, Draymond was hurt,” Lillard told Cowherd. “We was [sic] playing against them, and [Poole] wasn’t playing a lot of minutes, but he like did a move, and he scored on me. He hit a shot, he hit a three, and he started talking s–t.”
Lillard made clear that he’s really not one for trash talk unless provoked. But in that same game, the Blazers star said that Poole began goading him during a trip to the free throw line. The two then jawed back-and-forth the rest of the way.
Dame added that he eventually got his revenge during their next matchup on MLK Day 2020. After a slow start to the contest, one bit of trash talk from Poole fueled Lillard into going off for a career night.
“[Poole] is on the bench, and he says, ‘Oh, he ain’t on s–t tonight.’ So I turn and look at him. Draymond is sitting next to him, and me and Draymond is [sic] real cool. In that game, I end up scoring 60 points, and we beat them in Portland, and I just remember telling Draymond, ‘Man, I don’t mess with that dude like that, like I don’t like him.'”
Lillard ended up with what was then a career-high 61 points. Poole mustered just 9 points of 2-of-11 shooting that night. It’s a lesson to up-and-coming hoopers to not bite off more than you can chew.
