A Detailed Breakdown of the Crowd Reaction to Damian Lillard’s Game Winner
Last night Damian Lillard dropped 50-points en route to helping the Portland Trailblazers knock the Oklahoma City Thunder out of the NBA Playoffs. He did this in utterly spectacular fashion, pulling up for an absurd 37-foot jumper as time expired directly in the face of 3-time All NBA Defensive teamer, Paul George.
It looked something like this:
I was so wrapped up in the moment, watching the shot leave Dame’s hand that I didn’t notice what else was going on when he was first leaving his feet. And, upon further review there was a lot going on in the background.
Let’s break it all down.
First, there was this:
Dame pulls up for an insane shot. A shot that gets most of us benched by our coaches. That gets most of us cussed out by our rec-league teammates. But he didn’t care about simple things like logic, or percentages, or minimal things like Sir Isaac Newton’s theories about gravity or Kirk Goldsberry’s pointillism. Nah, he’s Damian Lillard. So he shot it.
And as that shot was going up? Let’s take a look at what was going down.
Number One:
These old people were front and center, the elderly lady rocking a fat Rip-City Jesus Piece and the old man crushing the flat bill game. They look chill. Unflustered. They look like they probably not only own a chain of dispensaries in the Pac Northwest, but probably indulge in that chain of dispensaries as well.
Number Two:
Remember how I said this shot attempt was completely insane? Well I wasn’t the only one who thought that. So did this guy. We were both wrong. You can see him mentally running the numbers while his eyes bulge like he just witnessed Slenderman get abducted by a team of lizard people.
Number Three:
This impossibly chill bro. He was not at all concerned by the run-up to this extraordinary shot, nor the launch angle, nor the consequences of Dame Lillard going fully bananas in front of him.
Number Four:
Dame’s own personal Triangle of Confidence. Check out the two guys at the top of the image and old lady down at the bottom. So confident, so sure that Lillard’s circus act was about to land a triple axle front flip on a highwire that they’re just tossing up their watches. It was #DameTime. They knew it. They were correct. We all need these three glorious hype-men/woman in our corners.
Also, special shoutout to the dude in what appears to be a calf-skin jacket who’s staring directly at the camera and grinning like he is actually a jacketed time traveler and knows what’s about to happen.
Number Five:
There is the confidence of Damian Lillard to take this shot, in this moment. There is the confidence of the aforementioned Triangle #DameTimers. And then there is this woman who was so sure that Lillard was about to get buckets that she already had picked up her purse and gathered her free t-shirt to head to the door.
The ultimate legend. Before the ball left his hand, she had one foot in the God Damn parking lot.
We stan a queen.
Number Six:
Not quite as sure of what exactly in the red-and-black-blazing-hell was happening? This woman. This was my reaction. Not the swag of grabbing a purse and getting ready to hit the road. Not pointing to a watch. Pure, unadulterated, feverish, anxiety as I watched that shot go up.
Thank you, mystery woman. For representing me.
Number Seven:
You know who else represents me? This guy. Doing the classic “ARE YOU WATCHING THIS!?!?!” Dad-point. I’m constantly doing this to make sure that my son isn’t watching the mascot or focused on the cotton candy staining his hands. I mean, he’s six, so it’s high time he pays attention to the game and I know that I should probably not be such a cliche but I just want to — DID YOU SEE THAT?!?!
Number Sixty Nine:
Remember when Bret Bielema called a football play borderline erotic and we all kind of thought, “Wow, that’s a weird way to describe something happening in sports?” Not this guy. He was loving this last shot. Some might say too much. I say, just about right.
