Damian Lillard on Feeling Overlooked and Staying Calm in the Clutch

Damian Lillard sat down with Chinese news channel CGTN and opened up about a number of things during his recent trip to China. Lillard pointed out the respect that he feels might be lacking for his consistency:

”How steady I am and how consistent I do what I do at a high level kind of gets overlooked sometimes.”

He also shared a story from eighth grade that changed his outlook on reacting in clutch situations:

”I remember in the eighth grade I had a game winning shot. I think we were down by two. I hit a three-pointer with one second left and I took my jersey off and started celebrating. It was one second left and I got tech and the other team got two free throws. We ended up losing the game by one and that was the worst thing that could ever happen.”

”I think it just made me more calm in those situations and it just going to be what it’s going to be.”

And Lillard highlights how music can help him focus after a bad game:

“Say we have a road trip and we get blew out and I have a bad game. When I get on the plane, beat myself up about it, maybe I’ll pull my laptop out and I listen to instrumentals and I write music. I write about how I’m feeling or how the way I’m feeling is connected to something that isn’t connected to basketball.”

You can read more from his sit-down here.