‘That was funny.’ How DJ Khaled got the crowd fired up during the Miami Heat’s playoff game
A magical Miami moment happened at FTX Arena in the middle of Game 5 of the Miami Heat’s second-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
It involved DJ Khaled.
In the third quarter of the Heat’s 120-85 blowout win over the 76ers on Tuesday night, the ball went out of bounds near Khaled’s courtside seat.
That’s when Khaled, a regular at Heat games in Miami, grabbed the ball from a security guard. He then handed it to Heat forward Max Strus before walking over to the scorer’s table while clapping his hands and pumping his fist to signal for more noise from the fans.
The crowd obliged as Khaled walked back to his courtside seat. But on his way there, the hip-hop producer and record-label executive gave Heat coach Erik Spoelstra a shoulder rub before sitting back down.
“That was funny,” Spoelstra said after Tuesday’s win, which put the Heat up 3-2 in the series entering Thursday’s Game 6 in Philadelphia. “I didn’t even notice him until the end, what he was doing to get the crowd fired up. But I loved it. That’s awesome. I was humbled to be part of that moment. He’s such a great fan there. Over the years, I’ve said hello a few times. But that was the best interaction and that was genuine. It was cool.”
Strus didn’t realize it was Khaled who handed him the ball until the crowd’s loud cheer a few seconds later.
“I heard the crowd going crazy and I didn’t know what was going on,” Strus said. “Then Jimmy [Butler] was laughing. So I looked and I saw he was pumping up the crowd. It was a pretty cool moment getting to meet him after the game. There’s just a lot of things that just keep happening to me. It’s pretty special.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
