Along with several other notable figures, former U.S. President Barack Obama virtually attended Wednesday night's NBA Finals matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.

Cameras caught the former president speaking from his virtual seat, which was surrounded by NBA legends like Shaquille O'Neal, Paul Pierce and Pau Gasol. However, it wasn't clear who Obama was talking to, or what he was saying — until now. As it turns out, he was on an internet call with the other attendees.

On Thursday, Obama revealed what he was saying during the online call, as well as his reason for making an appearance at Game 1 of the NBA Finals:

“I am obviously not the main event tonight,” Obama said in a video tweet. “But I wanted to come on and give a shout-out to all of the folks who are volunteering as poll workers in this upcoming election.

“And I wanna thank all these legends,” Obama added, referring to the NBA greats that were seated virtually around him. “I know they've been, in their various ways, out there promoting people turning out for what I think will be one of the most important elections ever.”

Though they fell behind in the opening phases of the first quarter of Game 1 of these NBA Finals, the Lakers managed to bounce back in a big way. In the end, Los Angeles cruised to a 116-98 victory. Anthony Davis scored 34 points, while LeBron James had 25 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 23 points and five assists.

Game 2 of the 2020 NBA Finals is set to tip at 9:00 p.m. ET on Friday night, with ABC having live broadcast coverage. The Heat are dealing with some key injuries, and it's going to be tough for them to compete against the mighty Lakers.