Damian Lillard can not catch a break when Steph Curry is within the constructing hogging all of the limelight. Lillard has to have developed both a chip on his shoulder or inferiority advanced, after including one other notch in his Corridor of Fame belt by being topped 3-point contest champ for a second consecutive 12 months —solely to observe the league formulate a whole occasion round Curry.
What was usually a premier Saturday night time essential occasion was overshadowed by the perfect lengthy vary shooter of the ground spacing period. Curry has been haunting Lillard throughout All-Star weekends, all through the common season, and within the postseason for the previous decade. Even when Lillard has a second, Curry finds a technique to upstage him. Fifteen minutes after Lillard gained the official occasion, Curry was throwing a 3-point belt round his shoulder at midcourt and receiving reward because the proprietor of the 3-point arc.
In 2021, they turned the All-Star exhibition right into a long-distance shootout that ended with Lillard draining the game-winning emblem triple. The subsequent 12 months, Curry responded with 50. Till 2014, Lillard and Curry seemed to be on parallel trajectories. They have been the mid-major guards located as cornerstone gamers on premier West Coast franchises. Then, Golden State started their reign of terror, leaving Lillard in Curry’s mud.
Dame is popping into the Dominique Wilkins of our period. He’s perpetually being haunted by Curry within the method that Wilkins was overshadowed by His Airness. Each technology has that man. Within the 80s, it was Wilkins being eclipsed by Jordan. T-Mac was Kobe’s underling even when wholesome. Carmelo rapidly misplaced his rivalry with LeBron James.
Lillard threw shade at Curry in 2019 after Golden State swept Portland within the Western Convention Finals, whereas Draymond Inexperienced and Klay Thompson nursed accidents all year long, then proceeded to go 35-39 through the bubble season. Two days after infamously saying, “He’s [Curry] seeing that it’s robust to get these high quality seems,” Curry dropped a 62-point nuke on the Blazers.
A 12 months later, Curry gained a fourth title as soon as everybody returned to full energy in 2022. Lillard lastly has his Kevin Durant in Giannis Antetokounmpo. However even when Curry is the figurehead for a struggling franchise, Lillard is catching extra strays. Virtually no person has been discussing Lillard in a constructive gentle.
This was purported to be the 12 months Lillard lastly triumphed over Curry. As a substitute, the Bucks have misplaced 7 of 11 video games since Doc Rivers changed Adrian Griffin and Lillard’s visitors cone protection has been given renewed scrutiny on a crew that prided itself for its effort on that finish underneath the earlier regime.
Sadly, his profession has been drowned out by Curry at virtually each step. Curry and Lillard don’t have many All-Star Video games left. Sooner or later, Lillard’s bought to have some pleasure about himself and do one thing about his Curry downside. whether or not it’s delivering a throwback Dame Time second within the Convention Finals or NBA Finals.
