On Dealing with Concussion Protocol
Reporter: Hey Dame, before we get to tonight, what has this last week been like for you as you’ve gone through the protocol? Have you had to deal with that at all in your career anytime playing basketball?
Lillard: No, that was actually my first time in my life just getting a concussion. I’ve been in a lot of situations – I played football, I box all the time. I mean, I’ve been in some situations where you would expect that I had a concussion before, but this was my first time. Usually, when something is wrong with me, I feel like I can will myself through it, you know, and I’m alright. But this was probably one of the first times in my life, and definitely in my NBA career, where I was like, something is off.
It was a little frustrating because I didn’t have a choice but to go through the process. I just had to acknowledge the way I was feeling, and I knew I wasn’t all the way right. I just went through it. I had to do the workouts and try to keep my wind up as good as I could. I just didn’t like not being with the team, not being able to come to the arena the second game of that back-to-back, not being able to go on the road trip. I think that was what made it hard for me, but I respected the process.
On Pre-Game Preparation and Symptoms
Reporter: Leading into this, you said some workouts. I know there’s like a protocol – were you able to really work out prior to this game, or did you kind of come in maybe far rustier than you would have liked?
Lillard: I think it’s hard to simulate anything when you miss NBA games – it’s just nothing like it. When you miss a week, it could feel like you missed a month as far as your body. But I was able to really work out. I was trying to speed myself through the protocol so I could get back, and I think it ended up kind of working against me. I did the 30-minute bike ride, 30-minute treadmill, 30-minute on the court all in one day just to try to see how I felt. I saw that I wasn’t right, and from there, I was doing 45-minute workouts on the court, just trying to do it at fast pace, less breaks, stuff like that just to push myself to make up for not being on the floor. Just a little less phone activity, not being in the light as much. It was a long week, but I was happy to be back for this game.
Reporter: Was it like dizziness or just like light sensitivity kind of stuff?
Lillard: A little bit of both. Not like dizzy like every time I stand up I’m dizzy, but there’d be moments of standing up too fast or when I first get out of bed, stuff like that. That’s what made me really like, “Oh, I really can’t play.” So it was like that and then it cleared up.
On the Game-Winning Play
Reporter: Let’s start at the end tonight. Just that final play, can you kind of take us through it and just kind of your mindset on that one, trying to get to the rack after I know there’s a couple layups that kind of fell off?
Lillard: I think it just comes down to – I’ve experienced these moments a lot, not just the last play of the game, but being aggressive and attacking and shots not falling. But the game is still close, and I know that what’s expected of me on the team is not to necessarily make a big shot or to be the guy doing it, but I got to be in attack mode, especially in a game like that.
Like you said, a couple layups didn’t fall. I got hit on the arm a couple times, got hit on the head one time, but they were all layups that I felt like I should have made. I just knew that it was one of those games where I needed to keep going, keep my foot on the gas down the stretch. It just came down to those last two plays – I got one to go, and then we were able to get a stop on the other end. It comes down to who’s going to make the plays, and I thought tonight in that last stretch, we were the ones that made the plays.
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On Brook Lopez’s Performance
Reporter: Can you talk a little bit about Brook? It felt like you guys had that two-man game rolling, and he was hitting shots to kind of keep you guys in it all night.
Lillard: He definitely got us started in the first quarter. We were off to a slow start scoring the ball, he got it started, and throughout the entire game, he just kept making timely baskets. Even when they went on the run and took the lead and we were bleeding, he hit a floater, then he hit a three, then he got to the rim and had a finish in the paint – I think he got fouled. He carried us with his shot-making and his ability to stretch the floor. Like I said, it’s going to be nights like that when teams are giving Giannis the type of attention that he was getting, when teams are giving so much energy to me and trying to make it hard for me. We need guys to step up, and that’s what good teams do. Brook, just like he did a couple games ago, he did it again tonight.
On Confidence in Clutch Moments
Reporter: Hey Dame, when Doc came in here earlier, he compared you to Ray Allen as far as your shot-making ability, where even if shots aren’t necessarily falling the way you want them to, he still wants you to take that final shot. Where does that come from for you?
Lillard: I think I just trust the amount of time that I put into the game. When you know that you haven’t done your work, I think you question yourself – if you’re making shots you feel good, if you’re missing shots you probably shy away from it when you don’t really believe. For me, I know how much time I spend watching film and coming back at night with my trainer, taking his criticism, being coached by him on my individual game.
Also, just experiencing a lot of moments where I’ve missed a lot of shots down the stretch, I might have walked away from games feeling like, “Ah, if I could have done this or if I made this shot or done this better, we would have won,” but we lost. I’ve just experienced both sides enough – I’ve experienced enough success down the stretch and at the end of games, and I’ve experienced enough failure where I always go into it believing and also knowing like if it doesn’t go my way, I can live with that. It’s not going to make or break me, and then the times where I make it and it’s a big moment, it’s not going to make or break me either. I’m always able to go into those situations with a level head and with confidence, knowing that I prepared myself to be successful, and whatever happens after that, I can live with either result.
On AJ Green’s Development
Reporter: Speaking of belief, to find AJ for that three to get you within a bucket, but then also even defensively – how has he, I’m guessing shooting-wise there’s no lack of belief or trust there, but defensively, what have you maybe seen from him in just a short amount of time?
Lillard: I’m somebody who likes to watch everybody shoot and go through their workout pre-practice. I like to watch everybody go through their stuff, when the young guys are playing the Stay Ready games, I like to watch. When I got here last year, I noticed that AJ moved better than people probably thought. Even offensively, he was a point guard in college and had the ball in his hands, so he’s a better ball handler and has more game than people think.
Just playing against him is when I really realized like, he’s actually a good defender. He’s strong, has good feet, he’s smart, he’s competitive, he’s tough. I think he understands who he’s guarding – you see him looking at these sheets they put out on our chairs in the locker room with information about everybody. He asks a lot of questions and stuff like that.
I think everybody might be surprised because he’s a 6’3″ white guy, but if you look at him physically, he’s strong, he moves well, like I said, he’s smart, he’s tough, and he’s actually a good defender. So I think that might catch people by surprise, and then obviously what he can do offensively is really good for our team.
On Return from Injury
Reporter: You said sometimes you can miss a week and it feels like you’ve missed a month. Just how did you feel out there at the start of the game? What was the rust factor, if anything?
Lillard: I felt tired. I think just being able to get on a court as much as I did and do a lot of ball handling and work out at a fast pace – yesterday I actually played a couple full court games against the young guys. Chasing AJ around – I mean, there ain’t too few guys in the league that’s as fast as he is. So chasing him around full court, these young dudes got a lot of energy. Just having to come back and play against them full court, I think it really kind of broke me in and got me ready to be able to play tonight.
It also helped me just kind of get back one with the ball, having to play against AJ guard me full court and the bigs being up at the level. They just play hard, they play fast, and it was really helpful for me to be able to do that against them yesterday. Tonight is like I said, it’s nothing like the real game, but I felt good moving. I just think the pace and the physicality of the game, that’s where the rust comes in – taking those bumps and still being able to raise up and shoot jumpers and being a little bit off balance on finishing and stuff like that. I think that’s where I felt a little bit rusty, but overall I felt good.