Damian Lillard is an NBA player, who is the starting point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers. He is a 4 time NBA All-Star and a 2 time All NBA player. He is easily one of the top 20 players in the NBA today. Lillard grew up in Oakland and was not a highly touted player coming out of high school. He was only a two star recruit and attended Weber State University, a small Division 1 school. Lillard thrived in college and ended up as the 6th overall pick in the NBA draft to Portland. Last season Portland came into the Playoffs as the 3rd seed and were swept 4-0 by the 6th-seeded New Orleans Pelicans. Saying this was a disappointing playoffs for Portland would be an understatement, and they were criticized heavily for underachieving. However, this season Portland avenged their playoff disappointment from last year and made it all the way to the Conference Finals. Lillard was constantly asked questions about last season’s failure throughout the course of this season playoffs.
He was asked by a reporter: “Did the expectations from last year add pressure?”
Lillard replied: “Pressure, nah. Fam, this is just playing ball. Pressure is the homeless man, who doesn’t know where his next meal is coming from. Pressure is the single mom, who is trying to scuffle and pay her rent. We get paid a lot of money to play a game. Don’t get me wrong – there are challenges. But to call it pressure is almost an insult to regular people.”
Lillard is often known for being one of the best performers in the clutch, in other words when the game is on the line. Lillard’s story aligns perfectly with this quote. He’s came from very little and now is a multi millionaire. He was not considered a high prospect coming out of college, and after three years of continuous improvement, Lillard finally able to make it to the NBA. Frankly, Lillard has been through far worse. All he has to fear now is criticism from his peers. He’s already made it. He’s in the top 1 percent of all Americans. And his upbringing of always fighting against the odds allows him to see that.
I think this mentality is an amazing perspective to have and it should be what everyone should strive for. Having the understanding that you are in fact blessed that you are not worse off. For example, if somebody has a big test upcoming in school that they need to pass, consider yourself blessed to even have the opportunity to be in school and learn. So many kids aren’t as blessed or given this opportunity. The worse case is failing that test and retaking the class, which is the big picture is not the end of the world. In short, this quote teaches you not to take things for granted. I understand that in the moment it feels like a lot of pressure, but focusing on the things you have and realizing that you are fortunate to have those things makes dealing with “pressure” a lot easier. The hard part is focusing on what you have and drawing from that, rather than focusing on what you don’t have.
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Prabh
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