Posted Up Pod: Little’s embarrassing NBA moment

The Trail Blazers forward joined the Posted Up with Chris Haynes podcast to discuss his most embarrassing NBA moments and how his star teammate helped him learn from it. Hear the full conversation on the Posted Up with Chris Haynes podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CHRIS HAYNES: Tell me you’re one, like, everybody has that one moment in the league where it be like, damn, I got crossed up, I got dunked on, I got whatever. What would you say throughout your three years playing the one, like, embarrassing moment you’ve had on the court?

NASSIR LITTLE: I don’t want to say my first one. I don’t want to say the first one, because the first time I was ever like, oh, was Jrue Holiday had dunked on me and it just caught me off guard.

CHRIS HAYNES: Jrue don’t dunk much.

NASSIR LITTLE: Yeah.

CHRIS HAYNES: That would catch you off guard. Yeah.

NASSIR LITTLE: I was like, why [INAUDIBLE] dunk on me.

[LAUGHTER]

The most embarrassing I felt, it wasn’t one play. It was throughout the course of a game, where like, we were playing Houston, and like, they were just literally not guarding me. And like, I was just missing. And I was just like–

[LAUGHS]

CHRIS HAYNES: Got you.

NASSIR LITTLE: And it wasn’t just one moment. I was just like– I was like, damn, bro.

CHRIS HAYNES: I know that– I know that [INAUDIBLE]

NASSIR LITTLE: It’s a bad feeling. Like, you– you’re just like, you were wide open. You’re pump faking, like– you’re just like, [INAUDIBLE].

CHRIS HAYNES: [LAUGHS]

NASSIR LITTLE: I’m kind of weak, bro. Like, it’s not a good feeling, bro. Like, you just– and throughout the game, they’re like, literally not guarding you, like, at all. And I’m missing every time. Like, not even inside, like, not even missing good, like, I’m missing bad. That was probably, like, the most I was like, ah.

CHRIS HAYNES: What year was that, Nas?

NASSIR LITTLE: That was my rookie year.

CHRIS HAYNES: Your rookie year?

NASSIR LITTLE: That was my rookie year.

CHRIS HAYNES: Listen, I swear it. Look, Will Barton of the Denver Nuggets, he was on my pod a few years ago. Kobe Bryant was guarding Will, but he wasn’t guarding him. So Will, when he first came in the league, he couldn’t shoot. Will could not shoot. Kobe was guarding him from the free throw line.

NASSIR LITTLE: That’s how [INAUDIBLE] was guarding me.

CHRIS HAYNES: So that’s how [INAUDIBLE]? So, I know. Kobe’s guarding him at the free throw line. And so Will is wide open at the 3. He does not want to shoot. He’s looking to still, like, try to– like, try to keep the play going. But it’s like– Durant is like, shoot, shoot. Shoots, miss bad. Shoots, it kept going on. It kept going on.

NASSIR LITTLE: And then you start missing, but you’re so open that you keep getting the ball.

CHRIS HAYNES: Yeah. Yeah.

NASSIR LITTLE: When you’re 0 for 5, you’re like, y’all want me to keep shooting? Y’all really want me to keep shooting the ball? But you know, to your point, like, I had a conversation with Damian about that actually, and I was just like, bro, like, what is your mentality, or like, how do you handle those tough games? You know, Dam started off the season kind of slow.

And what I respect about him is that when he was missing, how he don’t let it affect him in regards to, like, acting different, like, just because he’s missing, he’s going to still come to the gym. When he comes to the gym regularly, he is going to still do his routine.

He wasn’t coming into the gym with no attitude. He wasn’t being weird towards anybody. He wasn’t showing up later. Like, he was doing the same stuff he had always done.

He was staying consistent with what he had always been doing. All that stuff that he was saying in the media about it, like, was real, bro. Like, it wasn’t no just, oh, I’m going to say this because I want to look good. No, like, bro, he was saying that on both sides of the spectrum, playing his best and going through a struggle.

So he was like, bro, you go– he’s like, bro, I went 0 for 10 one game. Like, nobody talks about it. And like, that’s how I thought about it. Like, you know what I’m saying?

Like, you’re going to have bad games. You’re going to have bad stretches. Like, you just got to keep going, bro. And once I kind of got that mentality, I was like, it is what it is, you know what I’m saying? So shouts out to him for that.

[MUSIC PLAYING]