Inside The Heat

Undefeated Boxer Xander Zayas Makes Pitch For Damian Lillard To Miami Heat

South Florida boxer Xander Zayas recruits Damian Lillard to Miami Heat after winning bout Friday night
Shandel Richardson|
Undefeated Boxer Xander Zayas Makes Pitch For Damian Lillard To Miami Heat
Undefeated Boxer Xander Zayas Makes Pitch For Damian Lillard To Miami Heat

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Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are not allowed to make any recruiting pitches toward Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard because of tampering. 

As for South Floridian boxer Xander Zayas, the NBA has no control over what he can say. Zayas made his plea for Lillard to join the Heat after defeating Roberto Valenzuela Jr., with a knockout in the fifth round. 

Zayas, a native of Puerto Rico who lives in Plantation, Fla., improved to 17-0 with 11 KOs. He showed his love for Lillard during the post-fight interview. 

"Dame Time, baby," Zayas said after the fight. "Damian, we need you down in 305, baby. Dame Time." 

Zayas, 21, left his opponent bloodied before the fight was stopped in the fifth round. Maybe his pitch will help the Heat and Blazers speed up the process of getting Lillard to Miami. 

The Heat open training camp Oct. 2 at Florida Atlantic. 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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