We suggest you have some tissues handy. A new Budweiser commercial that debuted on Tuesday, April 9, honors the journey of basketball legend Dwyane Wade, who played his final professional game on Wednesday. However, instead of paying homage to Wade’s career on the court, the video honors all he has accomplished outside of sports. As the nearly four-minute ad explains via text, the 37-year-old athlete has spent the last several months swapping jerseys with a myriad of other NBA legends. “Before he says goodbye, we surprised him with five more,” the commercial notes. The video then shows Wade walking onto the empty Miami Heat court. The lights in the arena are off, but the court is illuminated. “I have no idea who is coming,” he tells the cameras. “Like, literally, no idea.” The pro athlete is then separately greeted by five strangers. “It’s been about 12 years since I’ve last seen you,” one man tells the Miami Heat star. “I come from an area where not too many people make it.” Another woman holding a cap and gown explains to him: “It was always my dream that I’d get the chance to go to college, but we just didn’t have the money.” A second woman walks onto the court and begins talking about her sibling, stating, “You mean so much to us. My brother, Joaquin, loved you from the beginning. He passed away in Parkland on February 14. He was one of the 17 victims.” The basketball great is then greeted by a third woman, who tells him how her house burned down 10 days before Christmas, causing her and her family to lose all of their belongings. The final “stranger” turns out to be Wayde’s own mother, Jolinda, who is carrying a garment in her arms. “You were the joy of my life, but I was dropping the ball,” she tells him, her voice shaking. Jolinda then mentions her own history with addiction and references her multiple stints in prison, which she didn’t think she would “ever” come back from. “On that road, I noticed you kept showing up and you’d come and see about me. And Dwyane, because you believed in me, when I got out of prison, I was a different woman.” While Jolinda didn’t have a jersey to hand off to her son, she did present him with a purple robe that he had previously given to her when he bought her a church. One by one, the other strangers followed suit and presented the Olympic athlete with clothing items of their own. The man who hadn’t seen Wade in a dozen years handed him a blazer (the same one he wore on his first job interview) while the woman who couldn’t afford college proudly handed over her cap and gown. The sister of the Parkland victim gifted Wade with a jersey that had belonged to her late brother, explaining, “This is important because Joaquin wore this in his last championship. My family wanted you to have it.” As Jolinda explains: “I am more proud of the man you have become than the basketball player,” she said. “You are bigger than basketball.” Since its release earlier this week, the heartwarming commercial has already garnered more than 3.7 million views on YouTube. It even got a response from Wade’s wife, Gabrielle Union, who was moved to tears. “Bigger Than Basketball. So much bigger than basketball. Man, this captures so much of what @DwyaneWade means to people,” she tweeted on Tuesday. “I’m also bawling.”<doc-sep>Will Newton / Getty Images In honor of Dwyane Wade's final season playing for the Miami Heat, Budweiser just released a powerful ad showing how the basketball star has helped so many people. The ad features five people whose lives Wade touched with his generosity: a woman whose brother died in the Parkland shooting, a woman who went to college because Wade paid her tuition, a man from a poor neighborhood near Miami who was inspired by him, and a woman he took shopping after she lost everything in a house fire. Wade's mother, Jolinda, appears in the video too, speaking about the time she spent in prison and how her son stood by her — and even bought her a church after she got sober. "I am more proud of the man you have become than the basketball player," Wade's mom says. "You are bigger than basketball." People are deeply touched by the tribute to Wade. We hear so much about the negative/bad things in this world. But there are still really good people who do what they can to make a difference for others. @DwyaneWade is one of them. I cried watching this. Grab a tissue. https://t.co/e7DC9jPjTr And stunned by how powerful the ad is. I don't RT ads very often. This is a worthy exception. Powerful. https://t.co/G9Cv43LZr9 Many said it brought them to tears. We are cutting, dicing, simmering, and frying pounds of onions this morning.... This may be the most touching thing you watch all day https://t.co/f6za6NG1cL Gabrielle Union, Wade's wife, said the video "captures so much of what [Wade] means to people." "Bigger Than Basketball," she said in a tweet. "So much bigger than basketball." Bigger Than Basketball. So much bigger than basketball. Man, this captures so much of what @DwyaneWade means to people. I'm also bawling. Watch and RT #OneLastDance https://t.co/2dFUS2424n<doc-sep>Dwyane Wade's jersey exchanges during his final season in the NBA have elicited heartfelt reactions from those who shared in the moments with the Miami Heat star, but it would be hard to match the level of emotions captured in a new Budweiser ad. . @DwyaneWade's legacy is bigger than basketball. Watch how we surprised him in honor of his #OneLastDance. #ThisBudsFor3 pic.twitter.com/naFsONpRjN — Budweiser (@budweiserusa) April 9, 2019 Wade, who plays his final home game in AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday night, walks into the empty arena as the advertisement opens. "I have no idea who's coming," Wade says. "No idea." The first of five individuals then approaches Wade with her own article of clothing to share. The first person is Andrea Ghersi, whose brother, Joaquin Oliver, was one of the 17 shooting victims at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018. "You mean so much to us, and my brother, Joaquin, loved you from the beginning," Ghersi said Oliver was buried in Wade's No. 3 jersey. Ghersi presented Wade with a basketball jersey her brother wore. The last of the five to greet Wade and thank him for the impact he had on their lives was his mother, Jolinda, who talked about Wade's support as she battled drug dependency. Other presenters were:<doc-sep>
You better have the tissues handy. In honor of Dwyane Wade's final season, Budweiser released a commercial celebrating the Miami Heat star's impact beyond basketball, and yep, it is quite the tear jerker. For months, Wade has been swapping jerseys with fellow NBA greats, but ahead his last game, Bud surprised him with five more. The ad opens with Wade center court. "I have no idea who's coming, like literally no idea," he says, laughing. One by one, five individuals arrive to share firsthand how he's personally touched their lives. The sister of a Parkland Shooting victim thanked Wade for honoring her late brother. "You're not Wade the basketball player, the legend," she began. "You're the human being that took the time and on his own wrote my brother's name on his shoe. And you care." If somehow you haven't already dissolved into a puddle of your own tears (aka me, currently), there's more. Dwyane paid a woman's entire college tuition, took another on a shopping spree after losing her home in a fire, and inspired a young man struggling in a low-income Miami neighborhood. They all came to extend a sincere thank you—and make us sob hysterically. Just into the clip, Wade's mother Jolinda arrived. "You were the joy of my life, but I was dropping the ball," she began, her voice cracking. She touched on her personal history with addiction and prison stints. "On that road, I noticed you kept showing up and you'd come and see about me. And Dwyane, because you believed in me, when I got out of prison, I was a different woman." Though she didn't have a jersey to gift her son, she handed over a purple robe that he had previously gifted her. "I am more proud of the man you have become than the basketball player," she said. "You are bigger than basketball." The others followed suit. He received a graduation robe, a jersey the Parkland victim had worn in his last championship, and a blazer another had donned for his first job interview. Bigger Than Basketball. So much bigger than basketball. Man, this captures so much of what @DwyaneWade means to people. I'm also bawling. Watch and RT #OneLastDance https://t.co/2dFUS2424n — Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) April 9, 2019 The heartfelt tribute has since taken the internet by storm with many fans tweeting out their emotional reactions. Even Wade's wife Gabrielle Union was shook. "Man, this captures so much of what @DwyaneWade means to people," she wrote. "I'm also bawling." Soooo, if you need me, I'll be here—still sobbing. Megan Schaltegger Editorial Fellow Megan is a Delish editorial fellow and University of Missouri alum.