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9 Years Since Being Afraid of ‘Never Winning a Ring’, Damian Lillard’s Shots at Karl Malone and Barry Sanders Resurface

Nandjee Ranjan
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9 Years Since Being Afraid of 'Never Winning a Ring', Damian Lillard's Shots at Karl Malone and Barry Sanders Resurface

Damian Lillard is among the top guards in the league. He can shoot the lights out from anywhere on the court and is one of the most ruthless clutch shot-makers in the league. Since he was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2012 NBA Draft, Dame’s rise to fame was very rapid. However, under his leadership, the Blazers only made it to the Western Conference Finals one time. Therefore, Lillard demanded a trade out of the city last month to look elsewhere for a Championship. However, it turns out that the seven-time All-Star had made fun of NBA legends for not winning a championship nine years ago. As his trade reports flood the NBA media, a commercial that Lillard did for Footlocker has recently resurfaced.

There are very few people in the league who would actually believe that Lillard is incapable of performing in the postseason. He has been an absolute star in the playoffs. However, the Blazers star has barely gotten any support from the other stars on the team. Frustrated with the lack of firepower around him, Dame Dolla has been compelled to ask for a trade out of the city, severing all ties of loyalty. Widespread reports have suggested Dame’s inclination is to join Jimmy Butler in Miami.

Damian Lillard’s Footlocker commercial resurfaces on the Internet

The Footlocker commercial that Lillard did back in 2014 has come back to haunt him finally. The commercial featured a few NBA and NFL legends. The video showed that Lillard had just bought Adidas shoes from Footlocker. Speaking on the phone, he unknowingly started to hilariously insult one legend after another about never winning a Championship in their careers.

In the commercial, he said,Yeah, just picked up some good Adidas gear from Footlocker. Look good, play good right? The last thing I want to be is one of those guys that never won a ring.” After saying that, he suddenly saw NFL stars LaDainian Tomlinson and Barry Sanders sitting beside him on the sofa. He tried to convince them that he was talking about a basketball player, not a football player.

Just then he found out Chris Webber, the NBA legend, was sitting on his right looking at him. “Chris, I didn’t mean you. I meant all the legends who lost in the Finals over and over,” Dame tried to desperately damage control. Karl Malone(who lost twice in the NBA Finals) entered from the porch just then with burgers made for everyone and felt the blunt force of Lillard’s statement, leaving the room with a gloomy face.

Since the 2013-14 season, the Blazers under Lillard had made it to the playoffs every single season until last year. However, the failure in the last two seasons has gotten the Portland player to think about his future. Despite urging the organization to bring in a veteran star player in his support, Dewayne Hankins and co have consistently failed at it. Lillard has averaged 25.7 points, 6.2 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 61 games in the postseason in his career. He has only reached the WCF in the 2018-19 season, where his team was swept by the Warriors.

Kenyon Martin Jr recalls the dread of being the victim of Lillard’s 71-point game

In February 2023, Lillard put up one of the greatest individual performances in the league’s history. After Donovan Mitchell scored 71 points in overtime, Lillard scored his in four quarters. He destroyed Houston Rockets’ every game plan and proved that when a superstar of his caliber has the hot hand, nothing, absolutely nothing works against him. Former Rockets player Kenyon Martin Jr said that watching Dame score 71 points on his team made him sick. “I was sick to my stomach,said Martin.

The onslaught was just marvelous to witness and watching a superstar write his legend with gold was a beautiful experience, except for Martin. Martin admitted that had his team not double-teamed Dame, he would have easily scored 90 points in the game. “He had 40 at halftime against us. He could’ve scored 90 if he wanted to, I truly believe. If we didn’t double team him, he would’ve had 90,said the current Los Angeles Clippers player. Lillard scored 71 points in just 39 minutes. He shot 57.9% from the field and 59.1% from beyond the arc, making 13 threes in the game.

About the author

Nandjee Ranjan

Nandjee Ranjan

Nandjee is an NBA writer currently working for Sportsrush. A LeBron James fan, he supports the Los Angeles Lakers and is a passionate basketball player. Sports has had an immense impact on his personal development since a very young age. He was a zonal level football player for three years, and his passion for sports has inspired him to write about it. He has a Master's in Political Science as well as Philosophy from Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, respectively. In his spare time, he loves to go on adventures and enjoys trekking.

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