November 8, 2024

NBA superstar Damian Lillard watches Jeremy Cameron kick his 500th goal for Geelong

Jeremy Cameron #JeremyCameron

One of the biggest names in American sport was on hand to see Jeremy Cameron kick his 500th AFL goal against the Dogs on Friday night – and the Cats turned on a show that even a footy rookie like Damian Lillard couldn’t have failed to be impressed by.

The six-time NBA All-Star was in Melbourne for George Kambosos Junior’s fight with Devin Haney and was spotted smiling in a corporate box at Marvel Stadium as Geelong absolutely dominated the Bulldogs to go to the first break up 7.2 (44) to 1.5 (11).

Three of those goals – including the first of the match – belonged to Cameron, who began the contest in scintillating form, kicking his first major just over two minutes after the first centre bounce.

Jeremey Cameron roars after kicking his 500th AFL goal against the Dogs. He kicked three in an electric first quarter for Geelong

Jeremey Cameron roars after kicking his 500th AFL goal against the Dogs. He kicked three in an electric first quarter for Geelong

NBA superstar Damian Lillard was spotted watching the Dogs cop a hammering. The six-time all-star is in Melbourne to watch the George Kambosos vs Devin Haney mega-fight

NBA superstar Damian Lillard was spotted watching the Dogs cop a hammering. The six-time all-star is in Melbourne to watch the George Kambosos vs Devin Haney mega-fight

Cameron’s 500th came up after 20 minutes when he was set up by Tom Hawkins, who beat Ryan Gardner after coming back from a finger dislocation. The 29-year-old calmly brought it up with a right-foot snap from the boundary line after marking strongly.

Everything Geelong touched turned to gold in the first term, while Luke Beveridge’s men were sloppy with almost every touch and beaten in almost every contest.

Cameron added two score assists on top of his 18 points as Gardner, Tim O’Brien and Alex Keath all tried and failed to mark him.

Tom Liberatore added a face-saving goal late in the quarter for the Bulldogs, who gave new meaning to the word ‘outplayed’. 

However, they turned things around in a big way in the second term, narrowing the gap to 8.6 (54), 4.6 (30) through goals to Marcus Bontempelli, Buku Khamis and Lachlan McNeil.

Tom Hawkins returned from a dislocated finger to set up Cameron for one of his three goals in the first quarter

Tom Hawkins returned from a dislocated finger to set up Cameron for one of his three goals in the first quarter

Last year Lillard was honoured as one of the NBA's greatest ever players as he was selected to the league's 75th Anniversary Team

Last year Lillard was honoured as one of the NBA’s greatest ever players as he was selected to the league’s 75th Anniversary Team 

Hawkins kicked the Cats’ only major for the quarter as Liberatore stamped himself as one of the Dogs’ best with 17 disposals. 

Lillard looked impressed with the action as he relaxed with a drink in a brief bit of footage from Marvel. 

Earlier in the day he posed for a shot in Melbourne’s CBD and posted it to Instagram with the caption, ‘We just here to see @realdevinhaney get these straps and we going home.’

The Portland Trailblazers superstar has been a fan of Haney’s since at least 2016, when he tweeted: ‘Devin Haney got it… Remember the name.’

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