Blazers Damian Lillard Reveals What Makes CJ McCollum Special

CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard have been teammates for the past six seasons and, when healthy, are ranked in the top three backcourt tandems in the league. This past season they help lead the Portland Trailblazers to the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, for the Blazers they would go on to lose against the Warriors in four games.

The Blazers were excepted to compete this season in the playoff races, but due to several injuries early on in the season has them fighting with the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th and final playoff spot. The NBA is currently on a hiatus due to Rudy Gobert and nine other NBA players testing positive for the Coronavirus. The virus has players as well as others around the country confined to their homes as the public tries to slow down this epidemic.

On Saturday, Damian Lillard was a guest on SportCenter’s Instagram Live with host Chiney Ogwumike. During their chat, Ogwumike asked Lillard what makes CJ [McCollum] so unique?

“I think what makes him a nice partner to have on the court is his mentality. He is not scared of a challenge or a matchup or not worried about what the media might be saying or being criticized, said Lillard. “He just doesn’t care; he shows up and do what he gotta do. If he plays good or bad, he even kills about it.”

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum discuss where they were when they found out Gobert tested positive.

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During an interview with The Undefeated revealed that the was recording a podcast with teammate Carmelo Anthony.

“I was actually recording my podcast with Melo at the house,” McCollum told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “And we were getting updates. I found out this NBA season was actually going to be put on hold while we were recording, an hour before it came out. They were sending us updates through [NBPA] executive committee conversations we were having, what was about to happen.

“Then we found out that Rudy had been tested for Coronavirus, and then we found out he got it. It was just unbelievable that all this stuff was happening at once.”

Damian Lillard was recently on the Knucklehead Podcast with Quenton Richardson and Darius Miles powered by The Players Tribune. Lillard revealed where he was when he found out as well.

“It was a Wednesday [and, I] left practice and I was at home. I was at the house like we are about to play Memphis tomorrow its a big game. This is who we are chasing and we play them twice at home and we need to get this win,” said Lillard. “Then they were like the game tomorrow might get played without any fans. So, I was on that and was like damn we about to play with no fans tomorrow. Then like an hour later they were like no game. That’s how I found out.”

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