By any metric, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Damian Lillard has had an incredible career. But he’s still haunted by the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry every step of the way.
Lillard won his second consecutive Three-Point Contest title Saturday night, becoming the first player since Jason Kapono in 2008 to go back-to-back. He beat a very strong field of competitors to do it, with every first-round participant exceeding 20 points and four different players going for 26. Lillard had to escape a tiebreaker and beat the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young on his very last shot to reach 26 points again.
Ten minutes later, Steph Curry put up a 29-point round to win his shootout with the New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu.
It felt like Curry wasn’t competing with Ionescu as much as he was sending a message to the field of Three-Point contestants. Sure, you won this contest – because I wasn’t in it. Curry isn’t unbeatable in the Three-Point Contest – he’s lost in the finals to Klay Thompson, Paul Pierce, and Joe Harris in the past – but he’s clearly the best three-point shooter in the NBA, and probably in history.
For Lillard, it had to take away from his victory. Sure, he repeated in clutch fashion, but then Curry showed he was three points better than everyone else’s best score. Even Ionescu equaled Lillard’s best score, and she doesn’t normally shoot from the NBA line.
It’s a trend in Lillard’s career – not that it’s his fault. He plays the same position as Curry, who played in his hometown of Oakland until 2019 and is still just across the Bay. Lillard is one of the best shooters from long-range in the league. Curry is the best.
Lillard has faced Curry’s Warriors three times in the playoffs. His Blazers went 1-12. When Lillard’s Blazers reached the conference finals for the only time in his career, Curry’s team swept them, even though starters Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins were out with injuries.
Even Lillard’s famed loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers ended this year, when he demanded a trade to the Miami Heat. Not only did Portland ignore his wishes and send him to Milwaukee, the move meant Curry even outshined him in team loyalty, as only eight other players have spent more seasons with one single team than Curry’s 15 in Golden State.
To be clear, none of this is Lillard’s fault. He’s wildly exceeded expectations coming out of tiny Weber State to become a lottery pick, a Rookie of the Year, an eight-time All-Star and a seven-time All-NBA players. It’s simply that none of those things have managed to pull him out of Curry’s shadow.
Except when it comes to rapping, where Dame Dolla is decidedly superior to Curry’s college cafeteria-based flows.
Though we still think “Space Jam: A New Legacy” would have been better with a Curry freestyle. How could it be worse?