The 44th Commander-in-Chief is about to pass the torch to his successor on Friday as Barack Obama’s second term as President of the United States comes to a close. As it does, people like Clippers guard Chris Paul are remembering memorable moments with the outgoing President.
Obama has said he is looking forward to taking a step back and enjoying being able to breathe again after eight years in the White House. He may also have a little more free time to play some pickup basketball, which he has been known to do from time to time.
Obama’s list of opponents in pickup games over the years has grown to include a solid list of individuals that includes Don Cheadle, North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, Scottie Pippen, Shane Battier, Carmelo Anthony, Grant Hill, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul and LeBron James among countless others.
“I was shocked at how good he was,” Paul said in an oral history on Obama’s basketball background published by GQ. “Nice lefty jump shot. But he got lucky one time on the break. I sort of jumped out, made him guess which way to go and he made the right play, crossed over, made it look like he crossed me up. It’ll never happen again. Hopefully now that he’s out of office we’ll have some time to see if it was real.”
I have to imagine Obama will find the time one day to take Paul up on that offer.
Obama is a well-known basketball aficionado, as evidenced by his annual filling out of a basketball tournament bracket on ESPN and his time seen on a court to take a break from the stress of being president. His love for the game was seen on the 2007 campaign trail, against the will of his assistants, Dan Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer recalled a moment when he urged the future president to not take a shot live on CNN out of fear for what a missed shot could do to his reputation.
“The President stopped to do a short interview, and then someone tossed him a basketball and we’re live on CNN. And I’m like, “Do not shoot this. Do not shoot this. Do not shoot this.” In the stupid world of politics, the metaphor of the candidate missing a shot on live television would have been unfortunate. And he kind of looks at me, like, “Really?” And fires one, and makes it, live on television, sort of feeding the legend of Obama, clutch individual.”
The stories of Obama and his desire to play basketball on the campaign trail are shared by many, including former senior advisor David Axelrod, who feared he once broke Obama’s nose in a pickup game in Philadelphia.
We were playing before a primary debate in Philadelphia, and I got isolated on him. He immediately sensed the opportunity and went sailing past me. And I did what basketball duffers do: I played a little matador defense and raked him right across the nose as he went by, and he went down. The Secret Service guys ran over. I really thought I had broken his nose. And as I stood there, I thought, He’s going to go out on the stage with some sort of bandage on his nose, and people are going to say, “What happened to Barack Obama?” and the answer is going to be, “His consultant broke his nose.”
And don’t forget that Obama has a custom pair of Jordans to lace up the next time he wants to shoot some hoops. He was given his own signature pair by Dexter Fowler this week when the Chicago Cubs paid a visit to celebrate their World Series championship at the White House.
[GQ]
