Getty Damian Lillard on the red carpet at the NBA 2K20 release party.
Last month, Damian Lillard was a guest on the Joe Budden Podcast and discussed a variety of different topics from his iconic walk-off shot. The wild buzzer-beater that sent the Oklahoma City Thunder home in the first round of the Western Conference NBA Playoffs. The panel also took a dive into when Lillard started rapping and also when they began taking him seriously as an artist.
Rory stated that he felt Lillard and Shaq were the best artists to play in the NBA. Then Mal asked Lillard, do you think you have better music than Shaq?
Lillard replied, “I think I rap better than Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal].”
Lillard Then Explained Why He Felt He Was Better Than the Diesel
“I think he was viewed as Shaq People weren’t looking like this [is] a real rapper. It was like, ‘That’s Shaq rapping.’ So, of course, it was a big deal.” said Lillard.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B227HUMlBwt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Well, word got back to Shaq and uploaded a diss track aimed at Lillard earlier this week on Instagram. With lines such as, “Take time to respond, there is no hurry,” Shaq rapped. “You’ll never be Westbrook, never be Steph Curry.”
Ok I’m going to practice now…
It did not take long for Dame Dolla [Damian Lillard] to respond. On Tuesday, he dropped “Reign Reign Go Away.”
“New school got new hits, Space Jam, not Blue Chips,” Lillard rapped on the track Reign Reign Go Away. “Hangman, you shoes s—, Game 6, I’m too lit—We both could be working at Kinkos, but Kobe [Bryant] won you them rings, though. ”
Are we gonna see Marvin Bagley III and @Dame_Lillard go bar for bar on First Take one of these days?
@MB3FIVE is ready whenever :eyes:
Damian Lillard and Marvin Bagley send shots at each other
This is not the first time someone from the Basketball community has sent shots at Lillard. Back in June, Sacramento forward Marvin Bagley decided to take some jabs at Lillard first on ESPN’s First Take and then on two diss tracks.
Lillard would send a warning shot on his first track “MARVINNNNNN???” “I never seen Floyd [Mayweather] spar with amateurs” in his first track. Then in “BYE, BYE, he shared that rap beef isn’t his style and he wanted to make music in peace.
“This ain’t my style/ I just do music in peace””
“I promised not to give this issue no attention/ Recognize when people hype you on a bogus mission,” Lillard said.
It seems like Bagley suffered the same fate as Sacramento Kings Minority Owner Shaquille after they both sent shots at Lillard.
According to USA Today’s Sam Amick, Shaquille O’Neal purchased a minority share in the Sacramento Kings in 2013. As a player, O’Neal led the Lakers to three straight postseason series wins over the Kings from 2000 to 2002. At the time he dubbed the franchise the Sacramento “Queens.”
O’Neal is now an NBA Analyst with TNT alongside Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson.
Lillard weighs-in on rap battle with Bagley
Lillard recently sat down with XXL to discuss his exchange with Bagley from earlier in the summer.
I was like, He really went for it. I was thinking he might send a shot, but he ain’t going to make a diss track. And he sent a real diss track. I think he can rap. I don’t think he’s trash. People usually say NBA players are trash. But when I was listening to it, I was like, This is a thing that I have to respond to. It was fun because after I did the first track [“Marvinnn???”], I knew I had him. I put the first one out, and I didn’t see him topping it bar for bar, said Lillard.
Earlier this summer, he signed a four-year extension with the Portland Trailblazers worth $196 million.
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Damian Lillard Unloads Massive Diss on TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal