There has been a rumor floating around for a number of seasons that Damian Lillard and Jordan Poole have beef, but Lillard has since cleared the air.
Seven-time All-Star Lillard recalled the game which started it all.
“What happened was – I think it was his rookie year, maybe,” Lillard said on It Is What It Is podcast. “Jordan Poole – I think Steph [Curry] was hurt, their whole team was hurt, so it was a bunch of young dudes on the court. We’re playing them, [Poole] did a little step-back, he hit a three on me,” Lillard said.
The 33-year-old went on to explain that Poole was talking trash to him after he hit the three and didn’t let up.
He kept running his mouth when Lillard was at the free throw line later in the game.
“I turned around like, man shut up,” Lillard said. “… He was like, ‘You shut me up.’ He was on that. So then I felt like it turned into that, so I felt like something gotta happen. So that’s kinda where I took it. We both started talking, so I just started talking to him crazy.”
Lillard dropped 60 points on the Warriors that night, so no doubt that would have shut Poole up.
The veteran went on to clarify that he wasn’t a fan of Poole at first because of what had happened that night but now appreciates his game and has no problem with the new Wizards guard.
The clip that had previously gone viral where Lillard said he didn’t like Poole was cut short, according to Dame.
For the record, the clip below is the one he’s referring to.
In the same podcast, Lillard also confirmed how Golden State would never be a destination he would want to land at.
“As far as Golden State, I respect what they’ve been doing over the last eight, nine years or whatever. And I’m from there, obviously that’s home, but I can’t go be a part of that,” Lillard said.
“They done won four championships. What I look like, going to try to do that and say ‘Oh, I’m joining my home team’? Like, no. There’s somebody that play my position, that, behind LeBron, is the best player of this era. To me, that don’t even make sense. I’d never do nothing like that. I’d lose every year before I go.”
By the sounds of it, Dame doesn’t want to be at any team with a recent championship.
The last time Miami won a championship was in 2013 with LeBron James, so the franchise certainly ticks that box.
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