Waffle House Hero Meets Dwyane Wade On 'Ellen'

NASHVILLE, TN -- He's been praised by politicians and the Nashville Predators, feted as a hero from the statehouse to the Waffle House. The thank-yous keep coming for James Shaw Jr., the 29-year-old electrician who, according to Metro Police, saved lives when he grabbed the hot barrel of an AR-15 wielded by alleged gunman Travis Reinking in the shooting at an Antioch Waffle House April 22.

Wednesday, Ellen DeGeneres invited Shaw to her massively popular talk show to share his story. As he's done since the beginning, Shaw downplayed his bravery, saying that everyone has the capacity to do what he did.

"The whole hero thing: I don't have a problem with that. It's just that if you're in the same situation, I want you know that a regular guy did it and I want you to emulate that same thing and know that you have that fire inside yourself," he said.

DeGeneres further praised Shaw for his effort to raise money for the families of the victims - Taurean Sanderlin, 29, Joe Perez, 20, DeEbony Groves, 21, and Akilah Dasilva, 23 - and noted that he's now raised $220,000-plus on GoFundMe. She also pointed to another GoFundMe effort designed to raise money for Shaw himself and his 4-year-old daughter, which itself had generated $205,000 by the time of the show's taping. Shutterfly kicked in another $20,000 and DeGeneres presented him with the check for $225,000.

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But Ellen wasn't done. She asked Shaw, who plays basketball, who is favorite player is and he said Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade.

"I like the way he carries himself off the court," Shaw said.

"Let's see how he carries himself out here," DeGeneres replied. "He flew out here just for you."

Shaw, clearly overcome with meeting his favorite player, was overwhelmed when Wade said he is "an American hero."

"When I sit down with my kids and I sit down and talk to them about role models and who I want them to look up to, I tell them to go look up James Shaw Jr," Wade said, before presenting Shaw a $20,000 check of his own.

Shaw said he hopes he can raise awareness for mental health. The National Alliance on Mental Health is expanding its "Ending the Silence" program into Tennessee's high school, it announced Wednesday.

Warner Bros. Studio Photo by Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.