Barack Obama shows up to Game 1 of the NBA Finals as a virtual fan

Celebrity watching in the NBA’s virtual stands has been a fun bubble pastime but Barack Obama’s cameo at Game 1 of the NBA Finals takes the cake.

The NBA bubble has brought us all manner of new broadcast wrinkles but the virtual fan experience is one of the strangest. Fans are zoomed in, via partisan team groupings, to watch along live with their video feeds aggregated on massive screens along the side of the court. A slew of celebrities have made appearances and looking for famous faces and has been a fun distraction at every game.

But this kind of takes it to another level.

Former president, Barack Obama, was in virtual attendance for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Who are all those familiar-looking folks sitting next to Barack Obama?

If you take a closer look you’ll notice that Obama is sitting in the midst of a pretty epic group. Around him are Clyde Drexler, Robin Roberts, Shaquille O’Neal, Paul Pierce, James Worthy, Robert Horry, Paul Pierce, Pau Gasol and Ray Allen. A few minutes later, the broadcast focused in on Obama and then panned around the screen to show that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dirk Nowitzki and Bill Walton were in (virtual) attendance as well.

Obama’s love of basketball is well known and basketball writer Alexander Wolff even wrote a book called The Audacity of Hoop, highlighting the president’s relationship with the game.

Seeing all these celebrity faces watching the game virtually instead of sitting courtside is just another reminder of how strange this postseason has been and how many accommodations needed to be made by the NBA to complete the season while ensuring the safety of everyone involved. It really is a testament to the work and efforts of so many people that we were even able to get to this point.

As of this writing, the Miami Heat are holding a first-quarter lead but there’s plenty more basketball for Obama and his friends to enjoy.