‘NBA 2K24’ video game drops curious Damian Lillard-Miami line

Mar 10, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The developers of “NBA 2K” may know something that the rest of us don’t.

“NBA 2K24,” the latest installment in the popular “2K” video game series, officially came out this week. One curious moment in the game drew attention right from the beginning though.

A gamer shared a viral clip to X of the commentators in the game speaking about star guard Damian Lillard as if he was already a member of the Miami Heat. After Lillard hit a shot in the game (while still wearing a Portland Trail Blazers uniform, no less), the broadcast booth started talking about Lillard’s supposed arrival in Miami.

“It’s a long way from Portland to Miami,” said one commentator. “But for Damian Lillard, it was all about their relative distance from contention.”

“Yeah, with the Heat, he joins a team that has made the Finals twice in the last four seasons,” the other commentator added. “They’re hoping that he’s the missing piece to go the distance, if you will.”

You can see the viral clip here.

It has now been over two months since Lillard formally requested a trade from the Blazers and stated that he wanted to go to Miami and to Miami only. But it appears the two teams still have not made any sort of tangible progress on a move that would send the seven-time All-Star Lillard to the Heat. Updates on the Lillard front have grown very sparse in recent weeks, and the latest one we heard was still pretty pessimistic on the prospects of a deal being struck.

As for “NBA 2K24,” it is likely that the commentary was produced months in advance and that developers were expecting a Lillard-Miami deal to be done already by the time the game was released. The commentary could always be edited out in future software updates to the game … or they could just stick to their guns and look really good if and when a Lillard trade finally occurs.