http://slamonline.com/online/2007/02/dwyane-wade-shaquille-oneal-and-george-
bush/
The champs at the white house
By Sam Rubenstein
I love it when athletes visit the White House for a photo-op with the
President. Shaq told the president he's doing a good job, a far cry from
Rasheed's legnedary performance where he claimed that he didn't want to go
because he didn't vote for the guy. Bush weighed in on some NBA topics.
"I know a lot of NBA fans, whether they like the Heat or not, are
pulling for Dwyane to get back into action," Bush said. "We wish you a
speedy recovery, Dwyane."
"They had the stars, everybody knew who they - who the stars are, but
it
was the capacity to play together, to put the team ahead of themselves,
that
enabled them to be here at the White House."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/16797631.htm
Everything was going fine until President Bush dropped the ball.
Bush honored the Miami Heat champion****p basketball team today, joking
with
the team in his usual manner. But Shaquille O'Neal got the last laugh when
Bush tried to bounce a basketball while standing next to the 7-foot-1
star.
It thudded flat on the stage. Bush looked startled as O'Neal and his
teammates laughed.
So much for the president's basketball career.
Bush lauded the Heat, the latest team to get the presidential treatment in
the East Room. He noted that the team did it the hard way, losing the
first
two games to the Dallas Mavericks before winning four in a row -- a rare
feat -- to win the series.
``It was a team effort that got these men here to the White House,'' Bush
said as the players stood behind him.
``They had the stars, everybody knew who they -- who the stars are, but it
was the capacity to play together, to put the team ahead of themselves,
that
enabled them to be here at the White House,'' the president said.
Still, there was some star treatment today. Most of the team entered the
room, and then three big names had a separate entrance -- O'Neal,
superstar
guard Dwyane Wade and celebrity coach Pat Riley.
The president called O'Neal ``one of the most well-known figures in the
United States of America.''
``Standing next to Shaq,'' Bush said, ``is an awe-inspiring experience.''
Wade, one of the top scorers in basketball, came with his left arm in a
sling. He dislocated his shoulder just last week and is now weighing
whether
to have season-ending surgery or enter a rehab program that could get him
on
the court in weeks.
``I know a lot of NBA fans, whether they like the Heat or not, are pulling
for Dwyane to get back into action,'' Bush said. ``We wish you a speedy
recovery, Dwyane.''
The champion****p was the first in the 18-year history of the Heat, and it
came with contributions from some famous NBA players on the back end of
their careers, like guard Gary Payton and center Alonzo Mourning.
Bush devoted most of his comments to praising individual Heat players for
their charity work.
Riley gave Bush a jersey and then told the audience: ``I voted for the
man.
If you don't vote you don't count.''
Addressing re****ters later, Riley denied that he had injected politics
into
the ceremony. ``I'm pro-American, pro-democracy, I'm pro-government,'' the
coach said. ``I follow my boss. He's my boss.''
Wade, meanwhile, is still awaiting a second medical opinion about whether
to
have surgery on his shoulder.
``That's a decision that's still being pondered,'' he told re****ters. ``My
spirits are high.''
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