Image via Complex Original
"You're going to have to let me borrow that robe back there, man," Damian Lillard tells Ric Flair to kick off our Zoom conversation.
"Huh?" Flair responds.
"I say, let me borrow that robe back there, I need one of those so I can wear it to the game, man," the NBA Bubble MVP echoes.
"We'll get you one. We got one for you, only if I get to be courtside," the 16-time WWE World Champion jokingly says back.
As a lifelong fan of both the WWE and the NBA, this is like a dream come true. It's a random Thursday night in the middle of quarantine and I get to hop on a Zoom call with a two-time WWE Hall of Famer and a likely future NBA Hall of Famer. We talk about their upcoming Adidas Dame 7 collab, the similarities and differences in their careers, and much more. Little did I know, the two of them would conduct the vast majority of the interview on their own and I'd get to sit back and watch.
Much like myself, Lillard is a huge fan of the WWE, which his fans have seen through a number of his pregame tunnel outfits, as well as an homage to Stone Cold Steve Austin by way of a "Dame 3:16" colorway of the Dame 6.
Now, Lillard, Flair, and Adidas have made things official with a duo of robe-inspired Dame 7s. A blue version hit stores on Nov. 1 and a second white and gold colorway is slated to drop Dec. 15. For a bit more on that and a lot more amazing conversation between two icons, check out the interview below.
(This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Damian, I just want to start with you. You're obviously a huge fan of the WWE. We've seen it on your sneakers in the past. We've seen it in the tunnel. What's it like to be working on this project with Ric Flair? A lot of people consider that man the GOAT.
Lillard: Man, especially like '90s, I don't know if it's a bigger wrestling fan than me. I used to watch Monday Nitro and then that went right into Raw. Later on that night, I watched that back to back, both two hour shows. And to me, that was arguably the best time for wrestling, because you had a lot of the attitude era in WWF. And then in WCW you had almost a new age of stars, but you still had Ric. You still had Hulk Hogan. You still had Sting. You almost had, like, two eras together. And then even Hollywood Hogan in WCW. Hollywood Hogan, he was in the NWO. You had Razor Ramon who was Scott Hall in the WCW. And then you had Diesel who was Kevin Nash. I was just loving that whole eight, nine-year run. To me, that was the best time. I had every action figure. I had rings. I had belts. I had all that stuff. But to be able to do these collabs with these different wrestlers who I used to look up to. I just loved every show. You know what I'm saying? To be able to do this is an honor, man.
And then Ric, same question for you. What's it like to get to work with a player the caliber of Damian?
Flair: Well to me, it's not arguable. I don't know how you measure it, by statute or whatever. But he's one of the top 10 players in the league obviously, and arguably top five. And he put on a show in the playoffs, in the first round. And he made a statement on a team that he's not surrounded by a superstar. So anyway, to answer your question. For me, at my age now, or at any age, to know that I did something that was not by design or was not intentional, but it influenced people like Snoop Dogg. And when I went to see LeBron one time, he said I was the founder of swag. And I didn't think about any of that.
When I was doing it, I was just having such a good time. And I'm always like, "Man, I suppose." Have you ever been to Friedman's here in Atlanta when the Trail Blazers come to town? It's the greatest. That's since 1978. Like I said, you weren't born, but I spend a lot of money on clothes and jewelry. But I just was having fun. And to think that I've impressed people and it's not what I did as a wrestler. For me, it's having my kids and my wife, have Damian Lillard go, "Hey, Ric Flair is cool." And that's bigger than wrestling to me now. My daughter being involved, that's obviously the biggest part for me now. But to be recognized by someone like you of your stature, it's like when Offset, we did the "Ric Flair Drip" up thing. Having you shout me out is as big as anything I've ever done.
Lillard: For sure, man.
Flair: And because of sports, it means a little bit more than the music. And I love all the musicians that have paid tribute to me. But because I like basketball, I go back to Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas and Clyde. Yeah. I mean, that was a phenomenal era. I've met Clyde. I never met Maurice Lucas. I've seen Bill on a plane, but I never had a chance to talk to him. But I was a huge fan.
Lillard: Man, funny story, I have some stuff to do in New York, and I was on a plane, and I saw Stephanie McMahon and Triple H on the plane. So I'm telling my boy. I'm like, "Man, that's Triple H right there and Stephanie McMahon. That's Vince McMahon's daughter." And I usually don't trip out. I see people all the time. But when I saw him, I was like, "I think that's them back there."
Flair: Did you say hi to them?
Lillard: So I'm going to tell you, after we get off the plane, we go to baggage claim. And I keep looking over there because I'm about to say, "Can I get a picture?" And I can tell Triple H was trying to avoid eye contact with me, like a fan. You know when you ain't really in the mood to deal with nobody that's a fan, you try to avoid the interaction. And he was just trying to avoid me. And my boy was like, "Man, go tell him you play in the NBA." And I didn't even say nothing. And I was like, "Man, I'm cool." But I was on a flight with him and Stephanie McMahon, so it was tight. It was tight, but I didn't even get to meet him.
Flair: Well, I'll see him Sunday. I'll let him know.
Lillard: So who was your favorite? Who was your favorite when you were wrestling?
Flair: Well, my favorite, believe it or not, of all time is your favorite. Stone Cold.
Lillard: Stone Cold. Woo!
Flair: I mean, I'll tell you he was the guy. I mean, there have been some big, big stars. Hulk and Rock and Stone Cold. But I think I've been told that he's your favorite.
Lillard: Yeah, I love Stone Cold. That whole Attitude Era was crazy. They had all that. They had The Hart Foundation. They had—what was the other one? The Nation of Domination. Yeah, Ron Simmons.
Flair: I used to see them a lot. Maybe once a month, about 10 other guys at Comic-Con. But with all the COVID-19, I don't see them as much, but I'll see Taker and Nash and Triple H Sunday. I'm going to Survivor Series for the farewell of Taker.
Lillard: I think for my next wrestling shoe, I think I want to do a—I got an idea I haven't shared it, but I think I want to do Undertaker and Kane.
Flair: Oh yeah.
Lillard: I want to do the package with one versus the other.
Flair: Yeah, they would love that. I'll see Taker. We got to trade numbers so we can stay in touch.
Lillard: Yeah, for sure.
A major theme of the Dame 7 is the term "visionary," and the meaning behind the word. So I wanted to get your twos' take on what the term visionary means to you.
Lillard: To me, it's just being able to see things for what you want them to be, and to just try to create the process or create whatever you need to create for that to come to life. But I think the biggest thing is seeing it before or regardless if somebody else sees it or not, and just finding a way. Being creative in that process and being true to that process and to yourself and how you make that come to life, with confidence in it, and with trust in it. So that's what my definition would be.
Awesome. What is it to you, Ric?
Flair: Well, I think the keyword is confidence. When I was his age, I didn't think about anything except being the best. And I'm sure Damian, and I feel pretty comfortable in saying this, wakes up every morning—but when I say top five or top ten in his mind—he wakes up saying he's number one. And that's the way you got to think about it. You know what I mean?
Here's the deal. You either believe you're the best. And it applies to my business. It applies to football. It's being a lawyer. Anything that you want to achieve or that you feel that you're going to do for living, you've got to have confidence. You got to know you're the best, especially if you're in a competitive business, whether it be a professional business or a sport. You know what I mean? I get lost in this conversation about Brady every week. You know what I mean? And Damian's name comes up all the time. You and Murray that lit it up at the Bubble. I mean, so many things going on in sports. But names out there all the time like yours is, you could play for the Trail Blazers. You could play for anybody. You're Damian Lillard. And that equals greatness. And I think when I was in my timeframe where I was at that level, I don't think it was the '90s. You weren't born probably when I was at my best, but you've watched it all on YouTube.
So Dame, you're going to be a featured character in the upcoming WWE 2K video game.
Lillard: Yes, sir.
And you're going to be wearing this Dame 7 in it. So obviously you've been in NBA 2K for years, but what's it going to be like to be able to use your own character, wearing your own signature shoe in that game?
Lillard: I'm the type that's like, I don't neglect the stuff that I love. If I really enjoy something...I really enjoy roller skating. So after games sometimes, I reach out to the roller skating rink and they'll let me come have a private skate. And after the game or I just cooled down, I'll go roller skate for an hour or hour and a half. Just because people would be like, "Man, you need to go rest or whatever." But it's like, I just really enjoyed this, so I'mma find the window or time to do it, or I'm going to pursue it. With my music, when I be doing my music, people are like, "Stick to basketball," but I still do my music because I care about that. So the fact that I'm on the wrestling game is just like something else.
It's well known that I'm a huge wrestling fan, but it's like, I'm so interested in it that I still look up stuff. I still go back and watch Stone Cold's best moments, Survivor Series, best moments, Starrcade. All of the big events that I remember. I'll go back and watch Royal Rumbles and stuff like that. So being on a game was me just kind of pushing that line even further, like I really do love wrestling. So it ain't just me getting myself on another game, it's like I'm on the wrestling game. Basically this is an opportunity for me to be amongst wrestlers. I love wrestling, and I'm creating my own character. I'm wearing my own stuff. To me, that's fun. I'm almost living out my dream as a wrestler. I get to get on a game and be a real character.
Flair: We're going to make sure that you put the figure four on Stone Cold.
Who are you going to put yourself up against for your first time playing?
Lillard: Man. The first time, I'd probably put myself up against Triple H for not wanting to take a picture with me.
Do you have a finisher in the game?
Lillard: I forgot. I think I did pick my own finisher. I don't know. I feel like I might've chose a tribute to Eddie Guerrero. I might've chose the Frog Splash. I was like, "Man, let me show Eddie Guerrero some love." I like the Latino Heat, all them dudes.
Flair: Yeah, he deserves it too. He was great. He left us way too early. Well, that's awesome man.
Lillard: Yeah, man. I'm a big fan of his. I was watching a wrestling documentary and it was called, like, shooting. You know how they say this person shoots on that person, like wrestling people was talking about people. And everybody was just talking about The Ultimate Warrior, rest in peace. I argue with my trainer all the time because he the biggest Ultimate Warrior fan ever, like ever. And I was really into Ultimate Warrior as a kid. He was never my favorite, but like how he had, he was buff. He had the things on his arm. He had the hair, the face paint. I remember as a kid, one time I was him for Halloween and I had the mask that looked like his face paint. But everybody on there was saying he was a terrible wrestler.
Flair: Well, I only worked with him twice. And I'll tell you a great story. We were wrestling in Toronto, and we only worked together twice and we had a match and came back. And Pat Patterson, who was an agent in the booking called me aside, and I was a world champion, I had just won at the Royal Rumble or something, and he said, "That was the worst match I've ever seen in my life." And I said "Pat, I know, I was in it." Second time, we're over in Phoenix and Charles Barkley came to see me. He was playing for the Suns then, and he dropped me on my head, and I had an inner ear problem for six months.
Lillard: I heard he used to hurt people, man.
Flair: Yeah, well, he had a lot of energy and he looked like a million dollars, but he wasn't Stone Cold. I didn't know him really well. But he's just another guy that left way too early. So as the way of the world, people are always going to—no one's going to say anything. It's my favorite saying, "If they're talking about you, you're doing something right." Or you've done something right. You know what I mean? Or you've done something nobody else can do. And that's just the way it is. For you, doing the crossover and leaving someone standing in their footprints, right?
Lillard: Right.
Flair: Yeah. And unless it's talking, working, putting time in just like you, and it's all about perfecting the skill. And I perfected mine and you perfected yours, and God bless everybody else.
Lillard: God bless everybody else, man.
Flair: Exactly. They got to figure it out on their own. So that's the one thing about that. Nobody can do the work for you. You didn't get as good as you are just by throwing the ball around in the backyard.
Lillard: No. I had to work for it, for sure. Nobody's going to do it for you.
Speaking specifically about the Dame 7, what's your guys' favorite aspect about the shoe?
Lillard: On the gold one I just like the details of the robe that it has on there. I like the fact that it's not just an all-gold shoe. I like how they paid homage to the robe. And then another thing that I really liked about the royal blue pair or the gator pair was just how on the blue one, where one side is my logo and then it's the silhouette of him. But it's the younger version of him. I like it so people know.
Flair: We got to stick with that version.
Lillard: Yeah. Younger, with longer hair, with the shades. I was like, I know exactly what version I'm looking at.
Flair: I appreciate this. You have no idea what it means to me. This is like me taking a step forward in a land that nobody else has ever been in my business. No one's had a shoe. Not Hulk. Steve had one, but a little different than my relationship with you and him. And so I'm just honored. I'm serious. I love basketball. So when this opportunity came around and it's taken a long time with the COVID and all that. And I actually got disappointed that it slowed down the process. To finally have a conversation with you and spend this little moment, it means the world to me. Thank you.
Lillard: No, thank you.
I've just got one more request, Ric, I was wondering if you could cut us a promo about the Dame 7 collab.
Flair: Hey, it's The Nature Boy Ric Flair here via Zoom with the one and only Damian. Wooooo! By God Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers and we are here to tell the world, specifically people in sports, that we are the two greatest at what we've ever done. And today we are limousine riding. We're jet flying, just stealing it. We're wheeling dealing. Damian's going to wear the Dame 7s that he was inspired to design because of The Wooooo! Nature Boy. And together, throughout the universe, we will prevail as the greatest tandem of athletes in the world today. The Nature Boy, Damian Lillard, and the Dame 7s all day. Woo! Woo! Woo!
Lillard: Man, that's too easy.