With Dwyane Wade approaching the end of his career, Gatorade wanted to honor his career and legacy on and off the court in a way that would inspire other athletes and further dimensionalize the brand’s “Win From Within” philosophy.

The idea was to create a film, set to the classic “Schoolhouse Rock” track “3 Is a Magic Number” that celebrated Wade’s greatest achievements on and off the court as well as highlighting his deeply personal relationship with the number “3.” “3” is his jersey number, he’s won 3 championships, he’s played on 3 different NBA teams, he dribbles 3 times before a free throw, he has 3 sons, he was part of a trifecta of players called “the Big 3,” he led his college team to the Championship in ’03, he was drafted to the NBA in ’03, and he lives by 3 guiding pillars: sport, community, family.

We enlisted the help of Wade’s friend, John Legend, to perform the song and rewrote portions of the lyrics to make the film even more personalized for Wade. We surprised Wade with the film during his final game.

Whether it’s your social security, passport or employee ID, we’re all identified by some kind of number. In Dwyane’s case, his number 3 is powerful…inspired by the Holy Trinity and sometimes Allen Iverson, it has become quite the predictor of his career. He’s won 3 NBA championships, played on 3 different NBA teams, dribbles 3 times before a free throw, has 3 sons, led his collegiate team to the Final Four in 2003, was drafted to the NBA in 2003, and lives by 3 guiding pillars: sport, community, family. We wanted to lean into the power of 3 to uncover what it means to Dwyane and celebrate how this relationship played a role in fueling his career. Doing so allowed us to further dimensionalize Gatorade’s brand philosophy of “Win From Within.”

We worked with John Legend to rerecord and rewrite the song “3 Is a Magic Number.” The track’s lyrics were used to drive the narrative of a film celebrating Wade’s career. The film was launched in the Miami arena during Wade’s final home game (April 9) at the end of the 1st quarter. To enhance the celebrate, we brought Wade’s friend John Legend to sit courtside. The teams’ Gatorade coolers, bottles, and towels, were all replaced with commemorative versions that combined Wade’s number with the G logo. 3 “magical” sections of fans were also given branded bottles. Moments after the in-game launch, the film dropped on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

157 earned placements (traditional + digital) with 505M+ impressions. And most importantly, it resulted in Wade falling lovingly into John Legend's lap during his final game.