When Damian Lillard made his league debut in 2012, he was considered one of the best emerging players. He was selected sixth overall by the Portland Trail Blazers and was immediately put to work by the franchise from the start of the season. Just as he was realizing his lifelong dream of playing in the NBA, the late, great Kobe Bryant humiliated him in their first meeting.
During his appearance on Jeff Teague’s Club 520 podcast, Dame answered questions about his first year in the league and recalled facing Kobe at age 22. Having idolized Kobe since he was a kid, he was excited to face him in the game. The eight-time All-Star said that before the game started, he was impressed by Kobe’s presence.
Within the first five minutes of the game, Dame mentioned he was just watching Kobetrying to wrap his head around the idea that he was a real person. He further revealed that in his head, he expected to at least exchange a few words with the Lakers legend, but that didn’t happen because Kobe ignored him.
“He wasn’t paying any attention to me. When I got on the court, I thought he was going to say, ‘Welcome to the league,’ you know, something like that. He didn’t say anything. So, it brought back the competitive spirit because you’re naturally going to take it a little bit personally, even if you feel like it’s Kobe.”
Lillard realized that this was not the time for him to fanboy Kobe because, on this court, they were both competitors. But it didn’t take long for him to get noticed.
During his freshman year, Dame managed to impress Kobe in a home game and received praise from the legend for being a complete player.
Bryant and Lillard had a lot of mutual respect
Kobe is the favorite player of most NBA stars today. Those who grew up in his era are fans of the five-time NBA champion. Dame is one of those NBA stars who looked up to him. On April 10, 2013, when the two faced off, Dame scored 38 points while shooting 12-of-25 from the field and 5-of-11 from the three-point line.
Impressed by the young player, Kobe said in a post-match interview:
“That kid is serious, man. He’s serious and he’s not afraid of anything. He’s got it all. He’s got the three-point ball, the mid-range shot, he can go to the basket and we had to go get him.”
The Lakers won that game 113-106, with the Mamba scoring 47 points in 48 minutes of play. The Lakers’ first game after Kobe’s passing was played against the Blazers and before the game, Lillard had said that despite the grief everyone is going through, he would go out on the court and perform on the court to honor Kobe. The former Blazer scored 48 points in a win over the Lakers and dedicated the win to Kobe.
