In the recent episode of the ‘Knuckleheads‘ podcast, hosts Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles invited the Milwaukee Bucks guard – Damian Lillard. This was his second appearance on the podcast with the two NBA veterans. The show started with a flashback of the first appearance, where he was asked about the first player to give him a tough time in the NBA. It was followed up with whose a** he busted the first time he stepped on the court.
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Goran Dragic was the first person to bust Lillard’s a** in the league, and the first person whom Lillard gave the works was – Steve Nash. Lillard said, “The first person who I did, I would say -Steve Nash. It was opening night. The first game of my career. I had 23 and 11.” Nash was playing for the Los Angeles Lakers at that point in his career, and Damian Lillard talks about how they beat the team that had Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard.
The Los Angeles team consisted of superstars who were past their prime but had teamed up to win a championship. Dame talks about the roster and their leader – Kobe Bryant. He said the following.
“That was my first game. He[Kobe] was out there snapping on everybody. He was really like a general out there. Kobe didn’t care who you was, who you thought you were, he was snapping. He is saying what he got to say. He was in charge.”
Lillard talked about Kobe being the coach of the team and giving the players directions on the court. Known for his extreme competitive fire, Bryant hated losing. So, anytime the young Portland Trail Blazers guard did something, the entire team heard it from him. According to Dame, it did not matter who you were to Kobe, you were going to hear it from him for making any mistakes.
Damian Lillard potentially ends Nash’s career
The game referred to by Damian Lillard occurred on the 31st of October, 2012, between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers. Blazers won the game 116-106 behind Lillard’s performance. Apart from the loss, the Lakers franchise also had to deal with an injury to Steve Nash, which supposedly happened in the opening night game.
Damian Lillard talked about him banging his knees with Nash, which could have catapulted his leg injury over the years. Here is what he said about the incident on ‘The Back on Figg’ podcast – “Opening night when we played the Lakers… When Steve Nash ended his career with his leg injury, he & I ran into each other. I actually like kneed him on accident.”
The game was the first for Steve Nash in the purple and gold uniform. After an MVP career with the Phoenix Suns, Nash joined the LA franchise to win his first NBA championship. However, as fate would have it, his career was marred by a myriad of injuries since the trade. Nash would go on to play only two seasons for the franchise before retiring from the league.
