Stephen A.: Damian Lillard is underappreciated | First Take 

Funny thing is that Dame is averaging close to or better is some categories as Kobe did in his MVP season....

PG is underrated!!!

Rudy gobert. Leonard, james. Mitchell, dame. Curry on the bench jokic on the bench might be Rudy's career yr this yr

Halleluka

Max did you say the blazers don’t make playoff runs? Lol.

Why are they asking if lillard is under appreciated still??? Lolololol. It’s widely known, and considering these are NBA analysis... it’s completely silly and even more disrespectful to bring up this question now. We’re passed that. And all Lillard will continue to do is use this as medicine to flourish more. It’s all he ever does! Dame time is 24/7 365.

Dame is not under appreciated at all. Yall sucked him to no end all of last year. And every time he gets swept or loses in the first round yall make excuses.

Since when did we care so much about starters? When we say 6x all star we don’t say 3x starter. It’s just starter. Dame should be starting over Luka but as long as he’s an allstar he’s good.

lol dame lilliard is shooting 41percent from 30 ft away from the basket. Insane.

@stephen A; Curry is the greatest shooter God has ever created lol

The poised duck surgically slip because sound mostly inform under a special ladybug. hard, jobless packet

Aside from bball Dame can spite some crazy bars, him and shumpert

he might be more clutch shooter but is he a better PG then luka overall?

Damien is a demon! 😈🏀🔥

This is same argument why Lebron James who is clearly the best player every year doesn’t win MVP.... because he is UNDERAPPRECIATED

“He is among the most respected superstars in American team sports” MAX STOP CAPPIN BRUH🤣

Who is having a better year? Curry 29.9ppg 5.4rpg 6.2apg /lillard 30.0ppg 4.5rpg 7.9apg /doncic 29.1ppg 8.6rpg 9.4ppg . The answer is luka I believe he’s leading his team in points, rebounds, and assist So the fans have it right

This the same dude that was telling ppl to pump the brakes when they were praising him 😂😂😂 this dude is a hypocrite fr

I think its the market dame is in

James Harden in the east is being disrespected also!

The fact that every single sports channel is talking how he's under appreciated shows that he's not. You want to talk about under appreciated then talk about Donovan Mitchell. Lillards team is 5th in the west..Donovan Mitchell's team is 1st in the whole dang NBA. Smh.

Luca or steph shouldn’t have made it over dame this year for back court

The accidental fork acutely reproduce because pressure scientifically applaud versus a adjoining ease. sad, shaky sampan

I swear the media says this every year. The media always talk about dame getting snubbed. If its anyone's fault for Dame being snubbed it is the media. They control the narrative unfortunately.

Dame is not underappreciated, nor disrespected. He's just not that popular as compared to the starting 5 of the west.

The Warriors know it? 😂😂😂😂😂 Lillard is the one who blew 4 straight 15pt 4th quarter leads to the Warriors in last years playoffs. As great as a closer as Lillard has been in general, he's been just as spectacularly atrocious of a closer against the Warriors. That was a historically bad result. Game after game after game pissing away a massive lead in the 4th quarter and getting swept. Not really what a great closer does. Not only did he not mount a single come back. He didn't win a single game. And he actually faceplanted 4x in a row 😂

i think currys averaging thurty

This isn't nothing new, in the early 2000s rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber use to hoop every year. They rarely made all stars due to Duncan and KG being in the west. Dame is in a PG packed conference, sucks but it is what it is.

He’s actually not under appreciated, part of his shortcomings is coming up short in every playoffs they’re in.

This is like you have the best record on NBA2K but the AI don't consider your player for All stars, MVP, DOP....and the only thing you got is Coach of the year.

If everyone says he's underrated then he is not underrated.

Stephan A thank you for acknowledging that Dame is under appreciated, clearly Max has no idea like always

Steph numbers are not better

closing? anyone remember when luka caught a ball in the air going out of bounds and drained a 3 for the game? dude was a rookie.

I'm with Max, and I don't see how this is a question anymore. "Under-appreciated" with the biggest contract in NBA history, a well-known phrase in "Dame-time," and with consistent mentions of your accolades? Dame is an elite player, but he gets his money, his attention, and everything else. Chill.

Stars are lost in Portland

I'd rather see the starters from the East and the West go at it rather than do a draft.

Not so long ago Skip said he wasnt a superstar smh , they need to start putting some respect on dame dolla

@Bobby Hill since I know you can't read.

Nah Forget that. He can't beat steph. Never finishes top 3 in standings. The year he did he got BOUNCED by anthony davis. Never led the league in anything. Chose to stay in Portland and promotes his albums more than recruiting any 1. He's rightly appreciated.

Doncic is there with euro votes. I guess anyone with lil basketball knowledge wouldn't vote him to the top 25 in West...

No he’s not, just the west is stacked

I take dame over luka heck I had dame and curry in the starting line

even Doncic agreed that Lillard should be starting

Lol fans shouldn’t have 50% of the votes. Most “fans” don’t even watch the games unless it’s the finals.

This might be the first time i heard stephen a say chicago bulls this season

I love Luka but Dame should have gotten that spot.

Media been selling luka like he's Larry Birds Off-spring So Im Not Suprised that luka got The Fan vote! + Da fact Of The Matter Is Dat Luka-Doncic A killa Aswell

But who did you vote for, Stephen A???

lillard is lethal, but way too cool for the masses. they want people clowning on others on the court.

They have to put their Great White Hope in there.

All the Netflix watchers didn't vote for Lillard

the fan vote is a complete joke haha

He's already made 5 all-star teams, and he'll make another. And he was rookie of the year. That's not underappreciated.

Where's luka stats

A few months back people started saying Dame is a better player than Steph. How tf is he underappreciated?

Did he just say "the games are on very late?" lol like the rest of the starting 5 are all from the east coast-- Dame is the best and it pisses me off being a local there is a problem with getting Dame in this all star game year after year-- like they dont want him in the game or something.. well its all good every1 from the northwest knows who the best is.. put 3k on dame for mvp

Now That He Has The Largest Contract Ever That Name Dame Dolla Make Alot More Sense

He needs to leave Portland

Overall its a popularity contest, not an appreciation contest. Besides, both media and players picked Dame, so it’s hard to say he is under-appreciated.

Dame is really just the Gilbert Arenas of this era. Yes he strikes fear but he’s just a notch under the legendary players of the era, and just low enough to be overshadowed by the soon to be legendary players of the next era. At least he’s better than Westbrook though

Let's get something straight, The FANS are the customers, not the media or the players. The FANS are the ones who are paying to watch. For those who don't understand... No FANS = No $$. I don't want to hear people complain about how fans are voting. It's our right to vote for who we like, regardless of time zone.

Thank you Max. Borderline over-appreciated. His career accomplishments to this point? A couple of (albeit incredible) game winners, some all star games, aaaaaaand that's about it.

If blazers end with a better record than the warriors then dame is first team all nba

0:13 I love how Giannis always gets a smaller font-size when he shows up in charts

Fans didn't vote for Dame because the Media doesn't cover him the way they cover Luka / Curry / LeBron. Give this man more attention and more fans will notice him.

I take it back. Top disrespected superstars in the league. #1. DAME TIME. #2. The claw. #3 Pg13 #4 The Beard

Dame Time = Lame Time.

Couldn’t care less about Dame hitting game winning shots in meaningless games . He may be the best closer but he can’t get you over the top so does it even matter. And stop comparing him to Steph. “He’s hit more game winners than Steph” ok and Steph wasn’t even playing 4th quarters for over a year because the game was already over so what’s your point?

Dallas a bigger city than Portland not too much of a surprise sadly

Lillard's entire career has been driven by him proving those who have underappreciated, overlooked, and disrespected him. If Lillard wanted more nationwide attention, he would've left portland the first chance he got. Portland has been very unlucky with missing out on some of the best players of all time They didn't draft Jordan because they already had Drexler They selected Oden over Durant They had one of the brightest stars in Brandon Roy but knee injuries prevented him from being that long term player for portland In 2012, Portland could've easily passed up on Lillard yet they saw something in him that no one else did. Lillard has repaid them by reviving portland and making them a relevant team these past 5-6 years.

LAVAR BALL SHOULD HAVE BEEN NAMED AN ALL STAR STARTER

Can you guys imagine this lineup of guys who never won a ring Lillard Nash Barkley Prime dwight howard Shawn marion I know there not huge names like most fantasy made starting 5s but I bet they would win alot of games ..they have shooting defense toughness iq

I still think Dame should’ve started over Doncic but Mavs fans are gonna disagree

Damian lillard has the worst winning percentage in the playoffs for the superstars today. Lillard has hit 2 first round game winners. CJ beat the nuggets and they got swept by Steph curry. Soo he’s not underrated he’s great but he don’t win

It’s annoying that real ones like Dame get slighted, and he doesn’t even want to abandon POR. It’s sad that society thinks that the size of the market determines a players greatness.

Back it up then Stephen A.!! Give Dame your actual vote for MVP!!!

Portland is in the same time zone as the Warriors, lakers, and clippers. There’s no way that they can constantly be on prime time games and it’s not “too late” but the blazers games somehow are.

Fan vote shouldn’t be a deciding factor. Fans can very due to population. Stupidest thing the league has done. This is all catering to people who are already fans of the sport instead of drawing new fans to the sport. Should be fan vote is 1\3, media vote is 1\3 and player vote is 1\3. Simple and sensible.

I appreciate him as a player, but you gotta admit it is up to him, he chose to stay in a small market and do the things the hard way, which is admirable but these are the consequences, he would not be getting that much money and opportunities elsewhere also...

Me in the Alantic thinking it's the weekend and I can watch the Blazers game... yet it's a 11:30pm

Steph won't take the last shot if he does miss

Dame shld be a starder

The swanky pelican electronmicroscopically unite because larch unusually punish athwart a rare permission. kind, onerous gazelle

It's absurdly shoking that everyone questions Dončić over Lillard but nobody questions Curry over Lillard. All three guys are pretty much on the same level and each one equally deserves to be a starter. Sadly, there are only 2 spots, and whoever is left behind, it's equally unfair.

Dame really is unappreciated. I’m not putting him above Steph, but if you traded Dame for Steph on the Warriors, he’s the only dude out there who could come close to filling Curry’s shoes

Why is Lebron a captain every single year? Jokic, Curry, Doncic and Lillard all have better stats. It's getting old and I would take Lillard ahead of Lebron.

Luka should not be starting over dame that's crazy. But what you 3xp3ct the world is looking for the next great white hype in basketball

It's because hes 6'8 - 21 y/o and white. That's what max really wanted to say

Wow all this fuss for a game that none of the players wanted to participate in. I like both Dame and Luka, don’t know who deserves the spot more, not sure it really matters. Game is supposed to be for the fans and this is what they wanted.

Dame time ⏲️

Why vote 5 starters when the top vote getters choose who they want... its stupid... let the 5 start then choose from the reserves

Only Dame can touch that coffee pot you hear me!!

Lol I mean all they doing is pissing Dame off I feel he about to go crazy after all star break

He’s averaging 29 PPG and 7 APG on 45% shooting and your telling me he’s not an all star? Come on.

Unfortunately it is a popularity contest and Dame is just not nearly as cool as Luka

Dame going to go down in history as the most underrated, under-appreciated super star player of all time .

Take Luka out of that list and add Dolla Dame!!!

anybody could do kellermans job

Dame is a closer