One of the more notable tributes made for Dwyane Wade's final Miami Heat home game was a video message by former President of the United States Barack Obama. While it may not seem like a huge surprise to see the 44th president in such a sketch since he's known to be a huge NBA fan (particularly of the Chicago Bulls and by extension Wade), how Miami was able to make it possible is quite an accomplishment in itself.
According to an SI article by Rohan Nadkarni, it was ultimately former Heat center Alonzo Mourning who was able to secure Obama's participation after multiple failed attempts by an Obama Foundation staffer (with ties to Miami) to get things going. Being golf buddies, it didn't take Mourning much effort in connecting with what was once ‘the most powerful person on Earth'.
Zo, in his way, was like, ‘Shoot, I’ll just text him right now. He literally texts President Obama right then. And he gets a response right away.”
While the plan was just to have Obama narrate some segments on a longer tribute video (much like Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James), he decided to go on a solo venture instead and film his own. Obama congratulated his fellow Chicago native for an illustrious 16 seasons and also poked fun at his failed attempt at a basketball career due to injury.
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