Damian Lillard made use of an old Chinese proverb to roast his fallen opponents after leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder in his wake after dropping a 50-point bomb and an iconic game-winning 3-pointer to win the series 4-1.
The Portland Trail Blazers point guard was the recipient of vast trash talking in this series, from Russell Westbrook's on-court jabs to Dennis Schroder imitating his “Dame Time” celebration as a way to get in his head.
Having won the war, Lillard took advice from the wise Sun Tzu, a Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher who wrote The Art of War — text used to this very day by the military and even the modern Samurai.
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Lillard stayed true to Sun Tzu's words, killing the Thunder with silence, making his actions speak louder than his words — and nothing speaks louder than a 37-foot long-range bomb over the Thunder's best defender.
Lillard told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports why he chose to take this approach to what most viewed as a point guard battle against Westbrook, whose antics were plenty clear throughout the series.
“I’m not even paying attention to it,” said Damian Lillard. “But when I do see it, that’s cool. He does it every game, so it doesn’t bother me. I don’t celebrate in someone’s face and try to disrespect my opponent. But if a team calls a timeout, I’ll go acknowledge the crowd and celebrate with my teammates as I’m going to the bench. I’m not going to say some wild s***. I think with him, he’s pounding his chest and talking s*** and that’s what gets him going. That’s the difference between us.”
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 24, 2019
The different was plenty notable, as Lillard made his punches count, ultimately waiting until the last seconds of the last round to deal the real haymaker.
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