Portland Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard is reeling after yet another early playoff exit, this time to the hands of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Dame literally did everything he could, but the Blazers ultimately couldn't overcome the talented Nuggets squad despite a masterful playoff performance from Lillard, who set another unbelievable record in the process.

Moving over to baseball, San Diego Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. has been on an absolute tear after signing a massive 14-year, $340-million extension in the offseason. In fact, the young shortstop credited Lillard after the two had a lengthy conversation after Tatis signed his extension.

According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, Lillard gave Tatis some advice from one huge contract to another, from one superstar to another.

“I told him when I got my first max contract, in my mind, I didn’t have a feeling of ‘I made it,’ Lillard said. “I had a feeling of ‘I’m going to show you why I make this money. I’m going to show you why it’s supposed to be this way.’ That’s what I told him, and he was like, ‘For sure. Absolutely. Keep going. Keep killing.’”

Well, it has worked for Tatis. The young Padres star has quickly become one of the faces and best players in baseball while also being donned as the cover athlete for MLB The Show. He is drawing MVP consideration and has the Padres in serious consideration for a trip to the World Series.

Lillard, on the other hand, is on a mission to get to the NBA Finals, and after the season-ending loss to the Nuggets, his future in Portland could be in question despite the huge contract he signed. Lillard loves Portland, but the chance to compete for an NBA title could prove detrimental and prevent Lillard from staying in Oregon for much longer, barring some unforeseen, massive roster shakeup.

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However, Lillard wasn't done paying respect to Tatis and complimented his personality after signing a huge extension as he did in the offseason.

“When a person reaches a certain level of success and stardom and they are still able to stay true to that foundation and that family and that’s still what means the most to them? Like, I just relate to that. I have a lot of love and respect for that,” Lillard said of Tatis.

Lillard and Tatis will certainly rekindle their relationship at some point, and Tatis is lighting the league on fire on a nightly basis with home runs, insane base running, and some spectacular plays on the defensive end. Lillard just torched the Nuggets with one of the best playoff performances of all-time in Game 5, which unfortunately ended up in a double-overtime loss.

Nonetheless, Damian Lillard and Fernando Tatis Jr. are among the best in their respective leagues, and we should see much more of both of them in the next decade.