NBA Legends Praise Damian Lillard After Insane 37-Foot Shot to Win Series: ‘God DAME!’
The basketball media world exploded last night after Portland Trailblazers guard Damian Lillard drilled a 37-foot buzzer-beating jump shot to win the game and finish his team’s NBA playoff series with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“It was a great feeling when it left my hands,” Lillard said of the outrageous shot. “It felt good.”
While normally shots around the 40-foot range are reserved for last-second heaves with little planning, Lillard actually had enough time on the clock to try and score closer to the basket but chose to fire off the long-range heave.
“I didn’t want to put it into the referee hands,” he said while explaining his thought process before the shot. “Where if there was contact or maybe they get away with contact or I end up having to take a tougher shot because there was contact and they don’t want to decide the game. So I was standing there looking at the rim and I was like this is a comfortable range.”
Paul George, the Thunder forward guarding Lillard during the final seconds of the game, called Lillard’s three-pointer a “bad, bad shot,” despite the guard shooting for 8-of-12 from 30-plus feet this postseason. The Trailblazers star responded to his opponent’s comment with a simple “lol” on Twitter.
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) April 24, 2019
Past and present NBA stars and sports media figures praised Lillard’s performance. Los Angeles Laker legend Kobe Bryant used the moment to note that he highlighted the 28-year-old guard’s talent back in 2013, while LeBron James simply tweeted an emoji of a watch to suggest that it is “Dame Time” — a nickname for Lillard that references his ability to perform in the clutch.
Check out a few of the reactions below:
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) April 24, 2019
DAME DAMN!!!!
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) April 24, 2019
God DAME!!!
— Allen Iverson (@alleniverson) April 24, 2019
⌚️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 24, 2019
DAME FOR GAME? #DAMETIME ⌚️
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) April 24, 2019
Unreal @Dame_Lillard
— Jrue Holiday (@Jrue_Holiday11) April 24, 2019
happens to the best of us
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) April 24, 2019
The shot heard around the ?. @trailblazers WOW.
Ugh, somehow I managed to delete my other tweet.
Still learning.
I’ll GIF myself later.
— Jeff Fisher (@CoachJeffFisher) April 24, 2019
The ultimate “no, no, no, what are you doing, no….YES!” Shot
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) April 24, 2019
This shot? To close a playoff series? And put 50 on the board? Legendary. I guarantee @Rustyhampton woke up his entire household hollerinng when it went in. https://t.co/KBZFk2XPoX
— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) April 24, 2019
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 24, 2019
Watch the shot above, via the NBA on TNT.
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