NBA trainer Jamal “Dash” Lovell, popularly referred to as “Dashletics,” has always observed players’ listening habits.

However, after receiving a visit from LA Clippers forward Paul George for a training session last summer, the native of New York City chose to reverse the flow and highlight George’s skill with a kind of music that complemented it flawlessly: silky R&B.

Lovell shared a nine-second video of the All-Star forward practicing reading defenses and exploiting gaps quickly before launching a bank shot on Instagram in July 2023. Over the video, Lovell overdubbed the music “Didn’t Cha Know” by Erykah Badu, which has since seemed to be George’s go-to tune anytime he has the ball in his hands.

On January 16, he led the Clippers to a 128–117 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring a game-high 38 points. George had a candid response when reporters brought up the fan-given theme tune at a postgame press conference.

“I think it’s just because I’m smooth, but I tell people, you know, I always look at basketball as dancing anyway, so I’m down to tango,” a laughing George said to reporters. “I didn’t get it at first.”

George acknowledges that Lovell provided him with the theme music, even though he wasn’t immediately aware of its origins. He says that his teammate Kobe Brown first made him aware of the song.

“A shout-out to Dash from Dasletics. George remarked, “I believe Dash was the first to release the clip with the background song.”

Erykah Badu’s fan, Lovell, told ESPN that he selected the song to be played over the video because of George’s ability to capture the essence of the artist’s neo-soul sound, which combines elements of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B. Lovell also mentioned how much George’s flow is effortless.

Lovell said to ESPN, “[George’s] game is just so smooth and so pure and such a poem and an art to look at.” We all know how fluid and clean his playing is, so the song kind of fits in with it by slowing everything down and making you feel like, ‘This dude moves exactly the way a basketball player should move.’

“The music just gives you a moment to sit back and be amazed by it.”

By “slowing down and making solid decisions,” Lovell creates a bridge between the R&B genre and basketball. This enables him to pay special attention to detail when studying his clients, like George.

“I used the song to accompany his slow-motion film, and when you watch his game in slow motion, you can see how damn near flawless it is—I’m talking about everything he tries to do, from his footwork to everything else,” Lovell remarked. “I find it really important to grasp the actual details of slowing down and the history of the genre.”

Social media content producers have been using the song to make their own versions of George’s highlights ever since he shared the reel on Instagram. The song was even played while his game highlights were being shown on Crypto.com Arena during the Clippers’ game against the Lakers.

The Clippers are now in third place in the Western Conference, and George was recently chosen a reserve All-Star for the conference. Throughout All-Star weekend and the rest of the season, you can anticipate hearing and seeing more of the 6-foot-8 forward’s theme tune.