Dwyane Wade Broadcasts His Weekend for Charity

Last weekend, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade opened up his life off the courts in an unprecedented way.  No, it is not another reality show.  Wade went live with his life via his Ustream account for the first installment of “3 Under the Tree,” a series of charity events hosted by the Wade’s World Foundation.

Fans could follow Dwyane live for a day on Saturday as he attended a charity event, went go-karting and interacted with followers in realtime, through both Twitter and Ustream.  ESPN gave the event a bit of flak for being a PR stunt, but they did note that Wade did reveal a few genuine moments that made him seem a bit more human.

I think this is a brilliant idea, despite what some may say.  PR initiative for Wade and his charity?  Of course!  Effective way of generating buzz for his cause while at the same time making him more accessible to his masses of fans?  Definitely!  It will be interesting to see if more athletes open up their lives in this manner.  Judging by the number of athletes already on Twitter, I have no doubt others will follow suit.

-Andrea