Lillard reached out to LeBron after leak of old derogatory tweets

Portland Trailblazers point guard Damian Lillard found out the hard way last week that the internet is written in ink, after a series of unflattering tweets he directed at LeBron James during the 2011 NBA Finals - James's first season with the Miami Heat and Lillard's junior year at Weber State University - were dug up by imgur user Nbaplayertweets and posted by Deadspin. 

The tweets, which have since been deleted, criticized James's work ethic and focus as he struggled against the Dallas Mavericks team that ultimately beat the Heat to claim the title.  

One of the tamer tweets read: 

@KingJames I don't feel bad for yo fake focused ass, I feel bad for dwade, and MYSELF cuz I wanted it more than you. #damnshame

Lillard was understandably embarrassed after the tweets resurfaced, but he accepted responsibility, saying they were more representative of the college kid he was than the NBA professional he's become. 

"One of my coaches used to always tell me that when you make mistakes, you've got to face the music," Lillard  told The Oregonian last Thursday. "In college, me and some of my college teammates were messing around. I was the obvious Miami Heat fan and they wanted Dallas to win and I made some comments about LeBron that was uncalled for. And that just goes to show that a lot of kids now on the social network, a lot of the stuff that you put out there, you never know when it can come back. So my advice to them is to be careful with that.

"It was just irresponsible. It's something that I'm not proud of. But I can also say that I've grown up since then. And I was just a young kid doing crazy stuff with my teammates."

Lillard also made a point of reaching out to James and clearing the air in the immediate aftermath of the tweets being brought to light. 

"Luckily I know LeBron," Lillard said. "Me and LeBron are cool. We've talked about that. And he knows that I respect him a lot. I'm a huge fan of his."

James echoed Lillard when he addressed the media in Portland on Tuesday ahead of his Cavaliers' road contest against the Blazers. 

"I didn't even see the tweets, I don't really get into social media like that," James said, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "He came to me before (the tweets) even got to me. We hashed it out right there, so no big deal."