Sports fans desperately looking for live action between athletes, current or otherwise, need to look no further than the beef that is stewing between ex-NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, and Trail Blazers All-Star point guard Damian Lillard. As all things do in today's world, this began with a discussion related to coronavirus.
On a segment of ESPN's "Get Up!" Orlovsky, Dominique Foxworth and Doris Burke were discussing Damian Lillard's stance on playing in the NBA if the season resumes during the coronavirus pandemic. Long story short, Lillard says he won't suit up for the team if they have no real shot at making the postseason.
Orlovsky, a former Lions quarterback and current ESPN analyst, decided to scold Lillard's decision to not play by making a comparison to front line workers who have no choice but to work during a pandemic because their financial situation requires them to do so -- while many businesses have stopped, rent surely hasn't. But there's one particular line that seems to have been a bit much.
"I struggle with sitting here and going 'you don't come off as, in some way, a spoiled and entitled brat by saying I'm not going to play,'" Orlovsky said.
As Orlovsky tries to explain, after Foxworth fairly breaks down why comparing a basketball player to a frontline worker is absurd, his issue was apparently a case of semantics. He thought Lillard came off entitled because the point guard didn't make it clear enough in Orlovsky's eyes that his concern was about not infecting family and friends, because that needed to be spelled out to be good enough for the ex-quarterback.
Burke makes sure to note that Lillard has lost someone in his inner circle to coronavirus and he also has a young son. So it's pretty clear that he has some strong reasons to limit his chance of exposure to the respiratory disease. But to make things extra clear to Orlovsky, the Portland point guard fired back on Twitter.
Entitled and spoiled? Mf watch yo mouth. My background , family, and character couldn’t be further FROM entitled and spoiled. I said what I said! https://t.co/yM30aU5xl2
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) May 28, 2020
You sat out ya whole career basically 🤷🏽♂️ https://t.co/yM30aU5xl2
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) May 28, 2020
Orlovsky, for what it's worth, is responding to someone on Twitter who was clowning him for having a terrible record as a quarterback. The former Lion, whose career highlight was running out of the end zone while Jared Allen chased him on a blitz, did try to apologize for calling Lillard spoiled, but the NBA star was having none of it.
Go back on TV w @realskipbayless and tell all those viewers that. And tell skip I can answer his question as well “what have I done” since y’all got so much to say. And I don’t know either one of y’all. https://t.co/4EPHPyEnaB
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) May 28, 2020
Prior to the NBA season getting suspended, Lillard was averaging a career-high 28.9 points per game, 7.8 assists per game (another career-high) and 4.3 rebounds per game in a season where he was selected to the All-Star Game for the fifth time in his career.