As Portland star Damian Lillard smiled and laughed to the tune of Will Smith’s famous song “Miami” in a 45-second clip of recorded video on Instagram Live on Friday quickly became knownit was only natural to wonder if he was sending some sort of message to the Trail Blazers about his possible desire to be traded to the Miami Heat.
But his agent Aaron Goodwin chose to clarify and contextualize the scene with The Athletic on Friday night. As Goodwin shared, Lillard is currently on a “working holiday” in Paris and was at a club when the DJ presumably decided to take his uncertain and well-documented situation lightly.
“The music was just a fluke,” Goodwin told The Athletic. “Damian is not disrespectful. He’s not an instigator, so he won’t do anything unusual. There would be no reason for him to do that. That’s why he laughed (in the video). It’s a fun coincidence that a DJ spins this.”
Overall, Goodwin said Lillard went live for about 15 minutes. But it didn’t end with the “Miami” song, as the DJ also played the Whitney Houston classic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” which also includes the lyrics “I wanna feel the heat with someone.”
But don’t be fooled: the insatiable online search for clues to Lillard’s state of mind has its roots in a very real situation.
The seven-time All-Star’s future at Portland has been uncertain for some time, and the Heat have long been known as the frontrunner for committing to signing him if he ever decides to make the move. Add to that the fact that the video came just hours after the NBA draft, when the Trail Blazers added dynamic young talent in Scoot Henderson and Kris Murray, but none of the star veterans Lillard is known to covet, and there was a far widespread social resonance The media assumed that this video was Lillard’s calculus.
It turned out, Goodwin said, was a DJ having some late-night fun at his expense.
(Photo: Soobum Im / USA Today)