Damian Lillard, Chandler Parsons Discuss 'The Shot' [VIDEO] That Shaped Their Careers! 'It's Something I Have To Live With For The Rest Of My Life!'

Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers were satisfied with their post-season. Sure, they left in the second round after the San Antonio Spurs easily beat them. But Chandler Parsons and the Houston Rockets got it worse.

Damian Lillard and Chandler Parsons are sharing some light moments as part of the Team USA mini-camp to determine who would make it to Final team that will defend the FIBA World Cup the US won in 2010. But before that, they shared something else:

Chandler Parsons was guarding Damian Lillard in that play. That play guaranteed Damian Lillard will be a star, and Parsons, despite his season-long brilliance, will forever be haunted.

From the Forward Center:
Damian Lillard: “We talked about it last night,” said Lillard. “The first thing they both — James asked me and (Parsons) asked me — was: ‘Did I know if it was going in?’ I said: ‘Yeah.’ And then after that we just talked about the whole series. I told (Parsons), ‘Y’all kind of pissed us off because it came back to us that you was like ‘I’m definitely the best small forward in the series and we deserve to win.’ And I was like, ‘That’s not true.’ … I mean, we laughed about it. What happened, what’s done is done. We did what we had to do.”

Chandler Parsons: “Damian, he’s a great player, he’s one of my close friends. So obviously last night, with how that series ended last year, we were talking about the whole series and all the trash talking that was going back and forth … That’s playoff basketball. At the end of the day, it’s nothing personal. We’re all competitors, we all want to win, we all think we’re the best. At the end of the day, trash talking is just part of the game.”

Of course, stardom is not just measured with one shot. Chandler Parsons eventually got his lucrative deal with Dallas and Lillard will likely do the same with Portland. It’s all about consistent performance.

Still with the age of the Internet and Youtube playbacks, it’s not an pleasant thing to remember:
“It still hurts, but it’s a good chance to come out here in a setting like this and get to know these guys,” said Parsons, “I’m going to live with that shot the rest of my life.”

And their Team USA mates just rub it in. Damian Lillard relates: “Everybody around here that says something, they’re just like, ‘Of all the people y’all would let near the catch, why would you let him get the ball right there?’”

All part of a players’ life, but amusing just the same.