Was it intentional from the Philadelphia 76ers star?
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is one of the more articulate players in the NBA. His quotes about loyalty, sacrifice, and valuing the journey are legendary.
On Monday, another remark of his may have found its place in the Meme-able Quotes Hall of Fame. And all he needed was one word.
After the Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their semifinals series, center Joel Embiid opened up about their bitter exit. Visibly forlorn during the postgame press conference, the MVP said he and co-star James Harden couldn't win by themselves. It's unclear if he deliberately took a shot at his teammates or if he just unknowingly threw them under the bus.
After seeing the video, Lillard reposted it on Twitter. His caption was obviously inspired by the literary opuses of William Shakespeare and Ernest Hemingway: "Huh?"
The All-Star guard was dumbfounded by Embiid's statement, especially considering the Sixers behemoth only scored 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting, while committing four turnovers. Harden was even more un-Game 7-esque, finishing with nine markers on 3-of-11 shooting and five errors. Harden failed to score a single point in the fourth quarter in the last three games. Read that again.
It's worth noting though that Lillard supported Embiid as MVP even before he was given the award.
To be fair, the 29-year-old Embiid also admitted that he has to be better.
Remember that meme where a stone-faced Lillard is staring straight at the camera after sinking an epic game-winner against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019? That's practically the visual version of his "Huh?" comment.
Nick Young's "Huh?" meme is still the real MVP though.