Like most players in the league, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard wanted to pick the brain of one of the game's best players in Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant back then. The two players immediately formed a bond when Lillard first came to the league back in 2012.
As his career progressed in the league, the former Weber State star was able to spend more time around Bryant. In his fourth season, he then posed a question to the Lakers legend: “What does it take to be a champion?”
Bryant was generous enough to give his advice to Lillard and the Blazers guard took it to heart. Knowing the importance of preparing for his opponents eventually became a key cog in his development as a player to this day.
“A lot of it had to do with film,” Lillard told Sports Illustrated. “He watched a lot of film on the best defenders and how they defended him. He watched full games. And he would always say, You will be surprised how often people do the same things. … And if you can learn people’s patterns, and you can learn their tendencies and habits, by watching them game after game, you’ll see that they do the same things, and you can take advantage of it. And you can manipulate that. Then I started to do that. That really helped me.”
Ever since Lillard arrived in the NBA in 2012, the Blazers managed to turn things around and consistently made the playoffs in seven-straight seasons under head coach Terry Stotts. Their deepest postseason run was back in the 2018-19 season where they reached the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
However, they were eventually eliminated after suffering a 4-0 series sweep at the hands of the reigning champions at the time. Despite coming up short year-in and year-out, Bryant's advice didn't go to waste as Lillard and his team still emerged as a constant threat and had their own iconic moments that certainly made a mark in the league.
Damian Lillard, who just became a father to a set of twins, is hoping that he can achieve greater heights with the Blazers and finally bring the team closer to its second championship in franchise history in the years to come.
Follow Us
Subscribe
