Skip Bayless Declares War On Damian Lillard
Move over LeBron James and Aaron Rodgers, Skip Bayless has a new sworn enemy.
On Tuesday night, just as Lillard scored 61 points and led the Portland Trail Blazers to victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Bayless declared war.
Rather than give Lillard any credit whatsoever for single-handedly carrying his squad and saving their season in the process, Bayless took a sledgehammer to the performance.
How lucky was Damian Lillard? Dame Dollar missed the money j, then happened to be in the right place right time to get run over for an offensive foul that cancelled the three his man made.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 12, 2020
Damian Lillard is playing like he’s mad at somebody.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 12, 2020
Now I want to see Damian Lillard finish it off vs dangerous Nets, then win just one of potential two games vs play-in team, then TAKE IT TO THE LAKERS and make up for his shockingly unclutch 4th quarters vs no-KD Warriors in last year’s West finals.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 12, 2020
Mind you, Bayless talked all this smack after Lillard dropped 61 points on 17 of 32 shooting and went 9 of 17 from behind the arc. He also dropped eight assists in the effort, and did it all in 41 minutes.
Lillard’s performance on Tuesday night was his second consecutive 50-plus point showing and his third 45-point display in the bubble.
Outside of Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker, nobody has performed better in the NBA bubble than Lillard.
None of that matters to Bayless, though.
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Skip Bayless, Damian Lillard Have Been Trading Shots For Days
Bayless and Lillard seemed to have a quiet truce going for most of the year, but that all changed last week.
The Fox Sports host took little digs at Lillard and CJ McCollum over their performance against the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs last year.
OK, on paper Portland would be the toughest first-round matchup for the Lakers … unless Damian and CJ disappeared the way they did vs GSt last year. But the matchup I want to WATCH is Zion vs LeBron/AD. I want to watch special.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 5, 2020
One day later, Bayless followed up on that thought.
I just don’t know about Portland. The lights got too bright for them against Golden State. If Dame & CJ are those guys, they should’ve at least gotten one of those games without Kevin Durant. More @Undisputed, now on FS1 https://t.co/Hi8pGrn1nr
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 5, 2020
For the next few days, Bayless would lay off Lillard and even praise him on occasion. However, on August 10, that changed.
I’m still not buying “Dame Time” and apparently the Clippers aren’t either. @undisputed. 9:30 AM-Noon ET. FS1.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 10, 2020
Unlike the other shots, that one really ticked Lillard off. The Blazers star decided to not let it go unanswered.
I have never been buying nothing about you fam. You a joke. And after our private convo full of back pedaling you will never have my respect 🤡 https://t.co/do0yxFgUju
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) August 10, 2020
Totally different https://t.co/JR4KvS1MGC
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) August 10, 2020
Hell no https://t.co/nUvr8fib3C
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) August 10, 2020
Ask him what he said when I asked him “ and why you always hatin on Bron ?” https://t.co/0FFrB7CRSV
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) August 10, 2020
Never one to let a good war of words go to waste, Bayless waited to respond on his talk show the next day. With the eyes of the sports world on him, he explained his relationship with Lillard and why he originally said what he said.
“I will allow you to continue to stick your head in the sand about Damian Lillard, but I’m not going to,” he said on Undisputed.
“What happened on Saturday afternoon … validated what I’ve been asking about Damian Lillard. Is he really ‘That Guy?’ Does he really have ‘super’ in front of star in front of his name?”
Bayless did not stop there, though.
“I don’t see it and I haven’t seen it when it really, really counted, and I don’t think the Clippers had seen it either. Because I gotta tell you, they laughed at your man. They [Patrick Beverley and Marcus Morris] clowned your man when he missed the two free throws, then missed the tying 3 late in that game.
“They’re over on the bench, they’re tapping their imaginary watches, ‘it’s Dame Time.’ They’re waving goodbye to him just the way he waved goodbye to Russell Westbrook and Paul George, he was there, and they’re waving goodbye to him.”
.@RealSkipBayless responds to Damian Lillard’s tweet and shares what happened between them: pic.twitter.com/m5YxSfceS2
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) August 11, 2020
One day later, Lillard dropped 61 points on the Mavericks, only for Bayless to give him virtually no credit for it.
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So What Comes Next?
Bayless is at his most relevant when he is feuding with athletes or team owners. Whether it is James, Rodgers, Mark Cuban or Kevin Durant, the Fox Sports host knows that the way to guaranteed temporary notoriety for him is whenever athletes take his bait.
That is precisely what Lillard did this week when he acknowledged Bayless.
Now he will be in the 68-year-old’s crosshairs until the season ends. No matter what he does, no matter how good Lillard looks, Bayless will find the tiniest flaws in his game and use them against him.
When the Blazers win, it will be because of McCollum, Gary Trent Jr., Carmelo Anthony or Jusuf Nurkic. When they lose, it will be because Lillard is not clutch enough and Dame Time isn’t real.
That is just the way Bayless wages his wars. It was like that with LeBron. It was like that with Durant. It was like that with Rodgers. And it will be like that with Lillard, too.
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