"It was a bad shot"- Paul George opens up on what he was thinking when Damian Lillard scored the game-winner over him in 2019
LA Clippers star Paul George maintained that Damian Lillard's 37-foot series-winner over him in the 2019 playoffs was a "bad shot." PG said that after the game and during the recent episode of his show, the "Podacst P." George received a lot of flak for his comments.
Fans and fellow players, including Lillard at the time, assumed that George was hating on that play as he was on the receiving end. Lillard was peaking at the time as one of the best shooters in the NBA, so no one considered it a "bad shot."
4 years ago today, DAMIAN LILLARD scored 50 PTS, including this "bad shot" vs OKC. https://t.co/j3fdNWjMLi twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
PG13 got crushed by critics and fans, but that's the best defense he could've played at that point with the clock running down. Unfortunately, he had to live with the result of it, as Lillard made it. Here's what the LA Clippers star said about that play on "PodcastP with Paul George":
"I was emotional at the time. I got killed in the media, 'oh he hating,' Dame say, 'oh he hating,' it was a bad shot but to his respect, like he a hell of a shooter.
"When that play was going on, I'm in front of him and watching the time behind him, and it's going down. So I'm like, 'At what point is he gonna make his move?' And I see him sizing me up. So I'm like, this ni**a is not about to shoot this s**t from here. So that's why I jumped before he jumps... It was like a f**king gatorade commercial."
Paul George and the OKC Thunder got eliminated with that shot by Damian Lillard from round one of the 2019 playoffs. It was one of the most historic plays ever. The game was on the road, so one can only imagine George's frustration after that shot went down.
Also read: "Paul George just got sent home by me last year" - Damian Lillard on LA Clippers star as tensions rise in NBA bubble
Damian Lillard finally admitted his buzzer-beater over Paul George was a bad shot
Paul George and Damian Lillard appeared to have a beef over the latter's buzzer-beater and the reactions to it. However, the two players played on the same All-Star team in 2021 when they seemed to bury the hatchet. George reflected on his "bad shot" comment at the media availability during the 2021 NBA All-Star event, saying:
"I guess I was criticized for the right reasons for calling Dame's shot in the playoffs a bad shot. I mean I've seen this guy's range is crazy."
Meanwhile, Lillard also revisited and seemed to change his stance on disagreeing with PG13 back in 2019. Here's what Lillard said during a halftime segment that aired during the season:
"Every time I see this there's one thing that never changes. I can't believe how deep I was sometimes. I actually shot that. That actually was a bad shot."
Damian Lillard admits his game winner vs OKC was a bad shot. https://t.co/6mtvByLCTz
Damian Lillard's crazy range makes it hard for many to accept to this date that it wasn't the best shot attempt at that juncture of the game. He scored his 50th point with that historic game-winner, so maybe it was the right call to go ahead with that play, which is now etched in history as one of the greatest buzzer-beaters ever.