Dame looks back on heated rivalry with Russ

Russell Westbrook has his fair share of personal battles as the former superstar of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He's known for being extremely feisty, and he has never backed down from any challenges on his way to NBA supremacy.

Out of plenty of duels that Russ faced within the league, Damian Lillard is undisputedly one of his most memorable matchups. In a recent appearance on Club 520 podcast, the current Milwaukee Bucks star candidly contextualized his past rivalry with Westbrook.

"Honestly, them was the most fun with Russ. My first 5-6 years, he was the bully," Lillard said . "They was on T.V. all the time, Russ it didn't matter if it was a big matchup, if somebody was hurt and he was playing against the backup - he didn't care. He tried to do it to everybody."

Dame strikes back

Both Russ and Dame thrilled us for the past couple of years with their fiery, high-intensity face-offs. Whenever OKC would face the Portland Trail Blazers, fans could assure themselves of a prime time bout between these two future Hall of Famers.

Lillard said that his competitiveness towards Westbrook is deeply rooted in his being bullied by the ex-OKC star in his early years in the Association. And when he had a chance to formally fight back with a legit squad of his own in the Blazers, he made the most out of it by settling the score against the Brodie.

"I just remember when I was like a rookie or second year, he used to try to give me 50 every time," Lillard said . "He would be shooting on me so much that KD would be getting mad, like, "Pass the ball!' He's shooting every time. Once I realized it was like that, that's when I started taking it personal. I know he always on go against everybody, but he really try to come get me. That was when it became personal."

"I start going back and then I start having the ball more once we did our rebuild. I started having [the ball] more," Lillard said. "He noticed that I was having it more, so I was being more aggressive back at him. That's when it turned into talking... When we started having that conversation, it just turned into every game. It was automatic like, I came to the arena knowing it's on tonight. Something happening.”

Nothing but respect

Russ and Dame reached the peak of their conflict five years ago when both of them locked horns during a seven-game clash. Both players rallied their respective teams in the opening round of the 2019 Playoffs. Neither player could contain that aggressive nature with each other and went at it with a flurry of trash talks, taunting, and heated plays. Yet in the end, Dolla emerged victorious by sending OKC home with an iconic series-clinching buzzer-beater in Game 5.

Although many assumed that both of them shared bad blood after all of their fierce contests, Damian clarified there was no personal animosity between him and Mr. Triple Double and their rivalry remained confined within the four corners of the court.

"He a cool dude, Russ is cool," Lillard said . "Off the court, we cool. But on the court, it was just like he took that approach, and ain't nobody punking me, I don't care who you is.”

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