Damian Lillard has had some memorable duels against the Golden State Warriors over the years. The Portland Trail Blazers star has proved himself as a worthy adversary, but his teams have just never been stout enough to go up against Stephen Curry and co.

Instead of growing any contempt towards Curry and the Warriors for getting in his way every single year, it's turned into an unshakeable respect coming from Damian Lillard.

In a recent appearance on Draymond Green's podcast, Lillard opened up about his true thoughts on the Warriors point guard, who he puts in a league of his own among the NBA's best point guards.

Via NBC Sports Bay Area:

“At my position, Steph is the one person that I can accept coming behind,” Lillard said Wednesday on the “Draymond Green Show.” “Steph came from a mid-major. Steph went through injuries. Steph's teams struggled. Steph is a two-time MVP, three-time champion. I respect Steph. I take nothing away from Steph. I respect it 1000 percent. But after that, I can’t take a back seat.”

In a league where utmost confidence in your own ability is the norm, for Damian Lillard to single out Stephen Curry, arguably his biggest rival, as someone he can say is better than him just shows how highly he thinks of the Warriors point guard.

After more than a decade in the NBA and three titles with the Warriors, Stephen Curry is now considered one of the greatest to ever play. But once upon a time he was an overlooked guard prospect who had to prove his worth at every step in his journey.

Damian Lillard went through a similar rise to prominence just like Stephen Curry. The Weber state alum outperformed expectations to become a six-time All-NBA talent and member of the NBA's vaunted Top 75 players of all-time.