Duke Grad Had Hand In Putting Together Miami's Super Friends

Tucked inside another excellent article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Brian Windhorst is one of the first mentions of a man who may have been vital to Lebron James and Chris Bosh's decisions to take their talents to South Beach—Nick Arison, Trinity '03.

Windhorst's article says that Arison, who served as a manager on the basketball team all four years at Duke and was on the support staff for Mike Krzyzewski with USA Basketball, began to cultivate a relationship with James, Bosh and Wade in the 2006 World Championships:

The seeds were planted in the summer of 2006 after Bosh, James and Wade finished their third seasons. Established All-Stars and clearly the future of the league, the three were part of a bonding effort led by USA Basketball to revamp and re-energize the national team after the disappointing 2004 bronze medal.

The three played together for the first time that summer in Japan at the World Championships. For the first week, they were sequestered without family or friends in Sapporo, Japan, in an attempt to build chemistry. But it wasn't just the players. Working as an intern for Team USA and getting to know the players was Nick Arison, the son of Heat billionaire owner Micky Arison.

Now, Nick Arison is a rising executive with the Heat. He was part of the team that recruited all three players this summer.