Comparisons, comparisons, and more comparisons. Seems like the NBA is full of them in the current era as we all as all of the other past eras. However, some people use comparisons as a sort of compliment when players have a good game or season.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said that Lillard “looked like Steph Curry out there,” when Lillard went off for 51 points in their win over the Warriors last month. Well, Lillard wasn’t too fond of that comment. Via Joe Freeman of the Oregonian:
“I respect Steph Curry,” Lillard said Thursday. “Because what he’s doing is amazing. But I’m my own man. So don’t come to me and say I’m impersonating him. You telling me I’m impersonating somebody by doing well at my job is disrespectful.”
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Steve Kerr,” Lillard said. “But when he said I looked like Steph Curry, I didn’t like that either. It might seem like a compliment coming from him and how he meant it. But I didn’t like that either. If anybody had a good game against us, I don’t think coach (Terry) Stotts would go and say, ‘He looked like Damian Lillard.’ So it depends on how you want to look at it.”
Now, don’t read this and think that Damian Lillard is mad at both Kerr and Curry for this kind of thing. He isn’t going to be angry with them for this, he just prefers that this kind of thing doesn’t happen. Lillard has worked incredibly hard to carve out a name for himself in the NBA today. On top of being snubbed from the All-Star game and not getting some of the recognition he deserves, being told that he played like someone else probably didn’t feel too great.
I completely understand the thought process that Damian Lillard is going through. Working that hard to make a name for yourself and a style of play that’s unique, you never want to hear that you played like someone else. Even though Steph Curry is playing out of his mind, and Kerr did most likely mean this as a compliment, I still agree with Lillard in the fact that other coaches won’t say that sort of thing.
H/T: CBS Sports
