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Damian Lillard reacts to moving up in the Top 5 of the NBA's all-time three-point list
Only five NBA players have managed to convert more than 2,450 three-pointers, and Damian Lillard is honored to be one of them.
While he doesn’t usually make a big fuss over career milestones, Lillard acknowledged the feat he made in which he moved up to fifth place on the NBA all-time three-point leaders list during the Milwaukee Bucks’ 140-126 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.
Elite company
“It’s an honor to be in that group with so many real shooters,” said Lillard, who finished with two triples in the win.
The 12-year veteran now has 2,451 three-pointers. He overtook Kyle Korver, who ended his 20-year NBA career with 2,450 triples. Lillard is one of the three active NBA players who are on the elite list.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry leads the list with 3,499 triples, followed by Ray Allen with 2,973. James Harden of the Los Angeles Clippers is third with 2,800, while Reggie Miller is fourth with 2,560.
Appreciating his accomplishments more
Lillard said it needed some family prodding before learning to appreciate such achievement.
“I think for a lot of things that I’ve accomplished since I’ve been in the league when it comes to records, my mom would tell me..my cousins, sometimes tell me that I need to be happier, I need to appreciate it more,” said Lillard.
Just because he doesn’t pay much attention to his achievements, it doesn’t mean that Dame is belittling career milestones.
Lillard said his competitive nature gets the better of him when dealing with career achievements.
“I think that I just get so caught up in the next thing and moving forward that I don’t appreciate it until like a year goes by and I’ll see a list and I’ll be on it I’ll be like “I’m number three or number or this close to whatever it is. I was looking at like, all right, who's number four and how many am I behind them. So that’s just naturally my thought process until that moment comes that I appreciate it,” Lillard said.
Before Wednesday night’s game, Damian added that he was unaware that he was actually on the brink of breaking into the list’s top five.
“I honestly didn’t know how close I was until the last game. I was on the bench and one of the team attendants behind was like 'you need two more' and I didn’t know what he was talking about until today,” said Lillard.
