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Damian Lillard Opens Up About Steph Curry, Point Guard Debate

Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has endless respect for Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry

Joey Linn

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On a recent podcast episode with Draymond Green, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard opened up about his respect for Steph Curry. The two star guards have faced off several times over the years, which has given Lillard an up-close look at the one player he can accept coming behind in point guard debates.

When asked about Steph Curry, Lillard said, "At my position... If you say who's the best at this, who's first like this, Steph is the one person I can accept coming behind... Steph came from a mid major, Steph went through injuries, Steph teams struggled. Steph is a two-time MVP, three-time champion. I respect Steph." While the Curry vs. Lillard debates never contained much substance, they did gain some unnecessary momentum during the 2019-20 season when Steph was sidelined with a broke hand. That noise has since been silenced, and Lillard is okay with it.

In their career head-to-head matchups, Curry is 26-8 vs. Lillard, including a 10-0 record in playoff games. In those games, Curry is averaging 32.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 6.8 APG, while Lillard is averaging 26.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 5.9 APG. While both have put up elite stats vs. the other, Curry's are a tier above. Capped off with his career-high 62-point performance against Lillard, Curry has been dominating those battles for years.

While fans of Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors will rightfully point to all of these statistics when presented with the rare argument for Lillard's case over Curry, the debate has now been settled by Lillard himself. One of the best point guards of his era, and a member of the NBA's Top-75 list, Dame himself has no issue being ranked behind Steph Curry.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.

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