“I’d like to welcome a little up-and-coming basketball team to the White House,” Obama said, with the team behind him and coach Erik Spoelstra standing alongside him.
The Miami Heat visited President Barack Obama at the White House to commemorate their 2012 NBA Championships. (AP Photo)“Some of you recall a little pickup game we had here a few years ago,” Obama said, turning toward Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, “and it’s clear that going up against me prepared them for going up against Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.”
The president, a longtime Chicago Bulls fan, admitted that he was disappointed that his favorite team hadn’t won the title but acknowledged the Heat’s standout individual efforts in a larger team context.
The Heat came to the White House after a visit to Wounded Warriors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, an experience that Spoelstra described as “truly, truly humbling.”
Before giving way to Heat players, Obama added that he appreciated that Miami’s “Big Three” of Wade, James and Chris Bosh “take the role of being fathers very seriously.” Heat family members were among those assembled in the White House.
James presented Obama with a basketball autographed by the team, but seemed in awe despite his long career in the limelight: “Thank you for letting us be in the White House,” James said. “Man, we’re in the White House! … It’s like, ‘Mom, I made it!’”
Wade then gave the nation’s 44th president a Heat jersey with the No. 44.
“We’ve got a 10-day contract left,” Wade said, turning to members of the Heat front office behind him. “Why don’t we hook my man up?”
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