The on-court rivalry between Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook is well documented, with the two former Western Conference foes having faced each other in the regular season and playoffs on multiple occasions. But the feud, according to Lillard, began to eat away at Westbrook’s mind at the time.Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Kevin Durant.
Although much of the attention has been focused on the Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers The game was a back-and-forth between Westbrook and Lillard, including the famous “rock the baby” gesture they each made to taunt the other, former Trail Blazers stalwart Westbrook said. would engage so much in rivalry that he began to annoy Durant, a former league MVP who left Oklahoma City for the Golden State Warriors in 2016.
“He was a bully,” Lillard said of Westbrook on Jeff Teague’s “Club 520” podcast. “It didn’t matter if it was a big game, if somebody was hurt and he was playing against the backup, he didn’t care. He tried to do that to everybody.”
“He was shooting at me so much that KD was getting mad and saying, ‘Pass me the ball.’ He was shooting every time and that’s when it got personal, so I was getting more aggressive with him and that’s when it turned into a discussion. ‘I’ve been kicking your ass for years!’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, well, this is a new era.’ I came to the arena knowing it was tonight. Something was going on.”
What Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard Said About Each Other
The rivalry between Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard was intense on the court, and the “rock the baby” taunt, as in Westbrook’s feud with Patrick Beverley, always drew the attention of fans, the media, and the players themselves.
Lillard spoke about the move in 2019 after eliminating Westbrook, Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder with an iconic long-range shot at the buzzer.
“He was doing that on jump shots,” Lillard told Yahoo Sports. “That’s not when you’re supposed to throw the baby. You throw the baby after you dominate someone in the post. He hit a layup in the post on me. Look at that. I’ll live with his jump shots. He wasn’t throwing the baby to me.”
Despite their on-court battles, off the court, Lillard has often shown respect and admiration for Westbrook. Lillard posted a photo on Instagram of himself and Westbrook hugging in January 2020, after a game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets, during which he and Westbrook were both booked for using offensive language.
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“They confuse competition with hatred when it is a ruthless fight against ruthless,” Lillard writes.
Lillard has also defended Westbrook in recent years, as the former NBA MVP has received immense criticism for his style of play, especially when he was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Lillard, who was traded to Milwaukee Bucks Last offseason, he said Westbrook was an “easy target” for criticism despite his “undeniable” legacy.
“I think it’s gone to the extreme,” Lillard told Shannon Sharpe in 2022. “It’s almost like people see something that they think everyone’s going to agree with if they just talk shit about Russell Westbrook. So everyone’s going after him. It’s over the top at this point, in my opinion. It’s just crazy to me.”
Westbrook, who signed with the Denver Nuggets This summer, he is expected to make his debut with the team on October 24 against his first team, the Thunder. The Nuggets and Bucks will play only twice in the regular season, first on February 27 in Milwaukee and then on March 26 in Denver.
