Damian Lillard drew inspiration from being swept out of the playoffs by the New Orleans Pelicans last year. Now that he's avenged that embarrassing defeat with one of the most iconic performances in playoff history, younger players across the league are already drawing inspiration from the Portland Trail Blazers superstar.
During his season-ending media availability with reporters on Wednesday, Brooklyn Nets star D'Angelo Russell explained why he looks up to Lillard “like a role model” despite routinely engaging in trash talk when the two meet on the floor.
“I remember coming into the league talking so much trash to this dude. I'm from Louisville, man. Louisville lit, Muhammad Ali – ya'll know that's what we do,” he said of Lillard. “So I'm talking so much trash to this dude, and to be four years in, I'm taking my hat off. I learned so much from this dude. When we're on the court it's like we hate each other, but he's like a role model. You're looking up to somebody, and watching them perform at that level to where you want to be. We just lost in the playoffs, my first experience. So to see him go to another round or do whatever that is and watch him do it, it's just like, ‘Man, that's the step I want to take.'”
D'Angelo Russell, considered a bust my many after being traded to Brooklyn from the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2017, emerged as one of the league's most pleasant surprises in 2018-19. The fourth-year floor general averaged 21.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game while managing a 43.4 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from three – all career-highs – this season en route to making his first All-Star Game.
The Nets, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2013, were beaten in five games by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.
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