LA Clippers forward Paul George has reached out to Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard to clear the air after the beef between the two got ugly.
The Instagram / Twitter beef between LA Clippers forward Paul George and Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard escalated recently when family members from both sides got involved.
The beef started during the Blazers fiery loss to the Clippers recently. George and Gary Trent Jr had words for each other. Then Patrick Beverley yelled, ” Dame time ” after Lillard missed two crucial free throws at the end of the game.
After the game, Dame spoke on it in an interview.
"Asking me about Pat Beverley, I sent him home before. PG got sent home by me last year. The reason they reacting like that is they know what I’ve done, it’s a sign of respect. If anything it should show you how much it hurt them to go through what I put them through."
It didn’t take long for the outspoken and fiery Beverley to bite back on social media, he George and Dame all exchanging blows.
Paul George, Pat Beverley & Dame on Instagram!
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) August 8, 2020
(via @BleacherReport /IG) pic.twitter.com/f9neQ6V5iT
After the next game, Jusuf Nurkic bit back in his post-game interview. Nurkic said of Dame,” he’s just taking bad shots. ” Referencing George’s famous comments after Dame’s acclaimed series ending shot over George against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019.
Nurkic with a not so subtle jab at Paul George when summing up Damian Lillard’s scoring: “Just taking bad shots.” pic.twitter.com/NOuWhRh1qv
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) August 10, 2020
This was all good fun until Dame’s sister and Paul George’s wife got into it with personal insults on Instagram. It may be a bit of fun when players engage in harmless banter on social media, but George and Lillard are both professionals, so don’t need this type of bad press or attention.
Yahoo NBA insider Chris Haynes then reported during the Blazers – Dallas Mavericks game that George had reached out to Lillard to resolve things.
My @NBAonTNT report on Paul George reaching out to Damian Lillard to discuss the back and forth banter that took an ugly turn once family members got involved. pic.twitter.com/DnGv5fG5rb
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 11, 2020
George said he has no beef with Lillard, while Lillard apologized for his sister going too far in her post. Great to see both guys are dealing with this situation in a mature way.