“Kobe Bryant looks at me like, ‘What? you want the mo#*%*f***r to have 50?’”: When Damian Lillard gave rookie D’Angelo Russell his ‘welcome to the NBA’ moment

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is one of the best and most clutch players in the NBA in recent times.

Damian Lillard is undoubtedly one of the greatest players of all time. There has been a lot of talk about his selection in the NBA’s Top-75 list over the likes of Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson.

Several disagreed with the Blazers point guard’s selection over various future Hall of Famers who might eventually make it to the top-100 players’ list when it comes out.

Also read: “Kobe Bryant averaged almost 50!”: When the Lakers legend had one of the most memorable scoring stretches in NBA history

The 6x All-Star has been dragging some below-par Portland squads to the Playoffs for 8 out of the 10 seasons he’s played in the NBA since coming in as the 6th overall pick in 2012.

And he obviously had to do it by putting up some maddening game throughout the regular season which will have him go down as one of the most clutch players to ever play the game.

Game recognizes game. The Black Mamba recognized Lillard’s brilliance quite early.

When Damian Lillard gave D’Angelo Russell his welcome to the NBA moment in front of Kobe Bryant

By 2015, with a 19-year-long NBA career, Kobe Bryant had become one of the best to ever grace a basketball court. He was ready to hand over the reins of the Los Angeles Lakers to someone young who could at least do half or even 1/4th the justice to Bryant’s legacy.

That very year the club had picked D’Angelo Russell as the number 2 overall pick. He looked like the man who would be able to do something special in years to come.

The rookie had various great examples to look up to in the league. Chris Paul in his across-the-hall LA team, Derrick Rose in Chicago, the recent MVP Stephen Curry in Golden State, and upcoming superstars like Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard.

The 1st year guard will forever remember which among that group of sensational point guards gave him his “Welcome to the NBA!” moment. Bryant also made sure that he wouldn’t forget it.

Also read: “Shaquille O’Neal is more sensitive than I am!”: When Kobe Bryant attempted to apologize to Shaq after questioning his lazy work ethic