We’ve all read the same headlines, and we’ve all watched the same SportsCenter highlights. They’ve written everything from “Dame the next Steph?” to “Damian Lillard doing his best Steph Curry imitation.” But can we just stop the patronizing for one second and call the comparison what it actually is: lazy journalism.
Sure, the comparison is beyond flattering; it’s an honor. Curry is the reigning M.V.P. and, let’s be honest, is about to repeat. The guy is breaking records left and right, his team is doing the same, and the truth is, we’ve never really seen anything like it. So what is there to be so down about? If nothing else, it’s great publicity. The whole country is buzzing about Lillard’s exponential growth in a number of stat boxes that are eerily comparable to Curry’s. So why, oh why is this a bad thing? Because it’s publicity for Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers on behalf of Curry.
Well, on behalf of the city of Portland and, quite frankly, Lillard, you can keep it.
It’s not difficult to understand why mainstream media does it. Curry is an enormous draw. He blows ratings through the roof and expands readership without batting an eyelash. I get it; it’s just business. Anytime there’s a hot name out there, it is logical that when a separate story comes up that includes a name that isn’t as attractive, you should find a way to relate that story back to one that everyone already knows about. In this case, everyone knows that Curry and the Golden State Warriors are the hot topics. But while those are the constants, you then have lesser known Lillard producing career-high numbers. This puts the media in a bind because they have to talk about Lillard as he continues to perform the way he is. The problem is that not everybody knows and/or cares about him. So instead of risking a drop in ratings or readership by talking about an athlete that might not be as popular as a Curry, LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, they’re going to simply compare Lillard to the guy that allows them to keep those high.
Although we can all agree that the thinking makes sense, the point still remains the same: it’s lazy. There’s nothing intriguing or creative about the story. It’s a cop out. It requires much more effort to research a lesser-known athlete, and identify something special about them that would create buzz and interest to the masses. If you take an unknown and place his name next to an All-Star’s, TA-DAH! You get an instant bump in ratings, readership, Twitter followers, blah, blah, blah! But the great tragedy of this comparison is the fact that if you looked a little closer, you would actually see that Lillard is a fascinating story all on his own.
This is a guy who last year played second fiddle on a stacked Trail Blazers team, only to be left high and dry in the offseason. While everyone else was either traded or walked away for more money, Lillard was the only one left when all the smoke cleared. But instead of playing the victim, he put a team of nobodies on his back, and accepted his role as the new leader and face of the organization. But aside from his obvious on-court talent, the real story is who Lillard is as a person. No matter what you tell him, or who you compare him to, he remains extraordinarily humble. He is the first to give credit to his team in a win, and the first to take the blame in loss. That being said, he is also unapologetically candid about the enormous chip on his shoulder he has from continuously being wronged and slighted throughout his career.
Aside from the game itself, Dame also has an undeniable bond with his fans. He signs autographs wherever he goes, he interacts with them through social media, he orchestrates shoe giveaways and has even started asking fans to design his shoes for him. And if that wasn’t enough, he has become quite the entrepreneur. He helped create the logo now used on all Lillard Adidas products, he’s constantly working on new designs and concepts for his shoes and he has even recorded and dropped an rap album. He can do it all.
So the next time you see a comparison of Lillard to a more famous All-Star, just remember that, as wonderful as it may seem, it’s taking away from everything that he is, and everything that he stands for. No, he is not Curry, he is Lillard, and we would have it no other way. You shouldn’t either.
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