Few players in the NBA embody the word “clutch” quite like Damian Lillard. Dame Time is not just a nickname, it’s a reality that opposing teams have come to fear. On countless occasions, Lillard has delivered when the stakes were high. His ability to stay composed under pressure has made him one of the most reliable closers in basketball.
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The Bucks guard was recently in conversation with Candace Parker where he was asked about the secret behind staying calm in the high-intensity moments. Dame’s big secret turned out to be something that’d be considered common knowledge – staying true to himself.
He emphasized that success hasn’t changed him, and his confidence in the biggest moments is simply a reflection of the mindset he’s carried his entire career.
He said, “It’s like a healthy fear. For me, I’ve been able to be so great at the end of games because I just made my mind up a long time ago, like, if I do something great and we win, I can handle it.”
This explains why Dame is one of the best in the business, because it’s not something that he channels at the end of the games, it’s just who he is. Despite being incredibly successful at closing out games, Lillard has managed to not let anything get in his head. He said, “Being successful is not gonna make me change.”
There’s another side to his approach, one that’s often overshadowed by his accuracy, the failures. Dame said that on nights when he’s unable to close games for his team, he has prepared himself to live with the consequences. This mentality has helped him stay on top of his game and as a result, we see more of his success than his failures.
Lillard has several clutch moments on his resume that can be their own separate stories. The birth of Dame Time against the Houston Rockets sits very high up on that list.
In 2014, Trailblazers were down by only two points with just 0.9 seconds left on the clock. Portland had the ball on the sideline and Lillard ran to catch it on the left wing and chucked it. He made the deep three and carried his team to the second round of the playoffs.
But that wasn’t all. He did something even more extraordinary in 2019 when the Blazers were facing OKC in the first round. With the score tied at 115 and the shot clock running out, he was being guarded by Paul George.
The point guard hit a 37-foot three-pointer over Paul George to close out the series at home. It’s arguably one of the most nerve-wracking and adrenaline-inducing moments in NBA history. The celebration that followed only made it sweeter.
Even at the age of 34, Dame is showing no signs of slowing down. He is just as effective as he was for the Blazers. If anything, he has gotten a much better system around him with Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the charge.
This season, Lillard is averaging 25.3 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds in 54 games. With the Bucks slated to make it to the playoffs, they will need some of Dame Time to show up in the high-stakes situations that will surely come their way.
