Lillard: The original play for the 0.9-second buzzer-beater against the Rockets was meant for Aldridge; we eventually parted ways due to a misunderstanding.

On September 21st Beijing time, Trail Blazers guard Lillard shared a video talking about the "Lillard Moment," elaborating on the 0.9-second winning shot against the Rockets. He also revealed that a misunderstanding caused a rift between him and Aldridge, which only got resolved years later. Lillard feels that had they teamed up for another season or two, they would definitely have brought a title to Portland. Below are the key points Lillard made in the video—

Back in college, even when I was a kid playing basketball, before leaving the court, I would count down to the hoop: "3, 2, 1," then shoot a game-winner. I wouldn’t stop after just one made shot—I’d keep shooting repeatedly. I thought, "I need to prove to myself I can make another." I wouldn’t leave until I’d sunk five game-winning shots.

In my second NBA season, many times in crunch moments, I would walk into the huddle during a timeout and say, "Give me the ball." You know what I mean? "Give me the ball"—because no one else on the team had the mindset to take control of the last possession. So I always stepped up to get the ball. Sometimes they gave it to me, sometimes they didn’t. Regardless of success or failure, I was willing to take responsibility for that moment. I always felt, "This is my job to do."

In my heart, I was always thinking, "I have to finish the game, seal the deal."During that period, I repeatedly stepped up in clutch moments and hit big shots. Eventually, every time the game was closing, the coach would design plays specifically to get me the ball. At that point, I even started feeling, "I should always make the shot; I will never miss." That’s how I thought.

In that playoff game against the Rockets, I wasn’t thinking about "if we lose, it goes to Game 7." My mind was only on one thing: "There’s 0.9 seconds left, we’re down by two, I have to make this shot."

As I stepped onto the court, I was still conflicted: "The coach wants a safer play, spacing everyone out and passing to LaMarcus (Aldridge) to take it to overtime." Then I thought, "What if the pass gets stolen?" My mind was full of those doubts.

Mo Williams was standing next to me as we walked onto the court, and he suddenly said, "Bro, forget the play, just take the shot." I was stunned and replied, "But bro, the coach has the play drawn up; I don’t want to mess up the plan. I have to respect the coach."

But when I saw the referee ready to inbound the ball, I just charged forward. I only remember that after I made that shot, the entire arena erupted, and Portland fans went wild. Can you imagine that scene?

Later, when Aldridge left, I realized, "Everything is fragile; anything can happen."

Actually, before my third season started, the team had been trying to negotiate a contract extension with him. I remember seeing reports saying he wanted to wait until next summer to re-sign—he didn’t accept an early deal. I didn’t think much of it then. If someone said that now, I’d think, "Maybe he’s considering other options," but back then, I simply thought, "Maybe he’s waiting for a bigger offer next summer."

I honestly didn’t think otherwise because during that playoff round, our on-court chemistry had reached a new level; we were very in sync.

But after the third season began, we were playing well on the road and maintaining good momentum most of the time. Then he injured his thumb, and Matthews got hurt too—after that, everything went off track. Even after his return, our form was poor, and we faced many difficulties. We limped into the playoffs with many players nursing injuries. Ultimately, we lost in the first round to the Grizzlies, ending the season.

When free agency opened, the team told me, "We’re going to meet with LaMarcus to discuss his extension."

Then they asked me:"Do you think your relationship with him can be repaired?"

I was stunned and said, "Repaired? What are you talking about? I’ve never fought with him or had any conflict."

I always thought we got along well, very smoothly. But they looked at me confused, as if saying, "Are you serious?" I asked back, "I don’t see any problem?"

After leaving the meeting, I kept wondering, "Why would they ask if the relationship can be fixed?" On the way back, I called Aldridge and said, "Bro, what’s going on?" He replied, "What’s up, bro?" I asked, "The team is meeting you about an extension, so why would they ask me that question?"

He said, "Man, you know, I keep hearing people say, ‘This is your team,’ but others tell me, ‘This is Damian’s team, and they’re building around him.’ I don’t know who to believe. It’s too late now—I’m planning to leave." That’s what he told me over the phone.

I could only say, "Alright, bro." You know, I always thought there was no issue between us. I had no idea about all these rumors. Shortly after hanging up, news broke that he had signed with the Spurs.

I was mostly confused because "before that day, I had never been to the team office or talked with management about any of this." I thought, "Someone must be spreading rumors, telling management one thing and telling him another."

It wasn’t until four years later, when we were on different teams, that we finally had the chance to talk it through. I told him, "Bro, management never told me ‘this is your team’ or anything like that. Besides greeting them at the arena or practice and asking ‘how’s it going,’ I never had any other communication with them." We finally understood—it was all just rumors.

I told him, "Bro, I never cared about ‘whose team this is’ or ‘whose city this is.’ I just wanted to be your best teammate." The truth was, he heard that management gave him and me different stories.

I believe if we had played together for one or two more seasons, we would have won a championship.Because in my second season, we were already one of the league’s top teams, just lacking experience; in the third season, we maintained strong performance for a long time but suffered many major injuries. I think the fourth season should have been our breakout year—you know, Will Barton was entering his fourth season, and he had played well for us in previous years; McCollum also performed excellently in the playoffs against the Grizzlies. Now we had two great guards; the bench had other players, and we were likely to keep Barton; at center, we had Robin Lopez and backup center Meyers Leonard...

If we could have played another season with that lineup, more experienced and stronger, we definitely would have done better than before. So I firmly believe that with one or two more seasons together, we could have won the championship.

This is where Lillard’s story ends. Perhaps he also knows that if it wasn’t meant to be, that Blazers team didn’t continue, and Lillard’s career so far has yet to yield a championship.