Damian Lillard is the Wale of the NBA. Both are underrated at their respected crafts, both remain humble for the most part and both take their work very seriously.

But they both share one characteristic that stands out above all else: they care too much what others think.

Last year, Wale spazzed out at Complex Magazine after they didn’t include his album, The Gifted, in their 50 best albums of 2013 list. And while Lillard has never had a meltdown like Wale had (it could happen in the future), he has been known to take exception to what others think of his place among the NBA’s elite:

It's always been this way. 😴 pic.twitter.com/xUNXhMbvrW — Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) December 17, 2014

Like Wale should let his music speak for itself, Lillard should do the same with his game. And he did it last night.

Lillard had a career-high 43 points vs the Spurs last night in a triple overtime thriller. He made so many clutch plays: a jumper to put the Blazers up by 1 with 54.9 seconds left, a layup past Tim Duncan to tie the game with 1.5 second left, blocking a potential game-winning shot by Danny Green as time expired, a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game with 13.6 seconds left in the 1st OT, a pass to Steve Blake to put the Blazers up by 2 with 30.2 seconds left in the 2nd OT and a step back 3 pointer that but the Blazers up by 11 with 2:34 left in the 3rd OT. That last play effectively sealed the game for the Blazers.

In other words, a lifetime of clutch plays in about 8 minutes.

It’s no secret Damian Lillard is underrated. But why is it? Is it because he plays in a small market? Is it because he’s only in his 3rd season? Who knows, but he’s clearly been overlooked thus far this season, and after last nights performance, it should stop.

Other than Steph Curry, John Wall and Chris Paul, there hasn’t been a PG that has clearly been better than Lillard. Westbrook has been by far the best PG since he’s come back from injury, but he missed nearly a month with a broken hand. Consistency matters, sorry.

Lillard is 6th in the league in win shares, trailing only Chris Paul and Stephen Curry at the PG positions. He’s 2nd among all point guards in scoring at 21.6 PPG, trailing only Curry. He’s also 6th in the league in plus/minus, trailing only Curry at the PG positions. But that’s just the offensive side of the ball.

On the defensive side, Lillard has improved immensely. And while he’s not an elite defensive player, he isn’t the same defender that struggled to stay in front of his man at all times that he was the previous 2 years. His defensive rating (an estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions) is 102, a career high, after posting 112 and 110 in his last 2 years respectively.

Lillard is emerging as the heart and soul of the Trail Blazers. It’s sad for NBA “analysts” to consistently sleep on him and exclude him from conversations for best Point Guard. But no more. If Lillard continues to improve in all aspects of the game, there’s no way anybody can ignore him.

Not even those who try.

Stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com

*UPDATE, December 22nd: For some reason, I forgot about John Wall. My apologies.