Watch Denzel Washington Give The Heat A Motivational Speech (And Roast Trae Young’s Haircut)

The Miami Heat dominated Game 4 of their first round series against the Hawks on Sunday, beating the Hawks by 24 in Atlanta to take a 3-1 series lead despite being without Kyle Lowry, who missed the game with a hamstring injury.

It was a sensational performance headlined by their smothering defensive effort that kept Trae Young outside the paint for the entire game aside from one shot attempt in the All-Star’s worst game of the series. The Heat were relentless from the opening tip and the Hawks were never able to put together a second half run to get back into the game as they did to swipe Game 3, and maybe part of that motivation came from an impromptu speech they received at the team hotel by the elevators from none other than Denzel Washington.

The movie star offered the Heat veterans advice on always paying it forward and continuing to set the standard every day with their effort, while offering Lowry a speedy recovery before noting he expected the rest of the team to “handle their business for you.” The funniest part, without a doubt, is him giving them some trash talk to deliver on his behalf to Trae Young, saying “tell that little boy to get a haircut…what kinda haircut he workin’ with?”

Maybe that message was delivered and played a role in Young’s Game 4 performance, because I’d certainly struggle to stay focused on the task at hand if I found out that Denzel Washington was roasting my haircut.