Rumors

Barack Obama: "I think Victor Wembanyama will end up being as good as we are projected. I watched him at the All-Star game. I was sitting there, first time I'd seen him live, and I don't remember somebody that that big moving like that. He's got to figure out what his go-to move is. He's got to put on some weight, he's got to work on his conditioning. Because he kept, you could tell he got tired, partly because it just looks to me like playing defense today is so much harder because you have to close out everything. So, it used to be, you're Victor Wembanyama, you just plant yourself in the paint, and you're a rim protector. But I'm watching him on defense now, the way they're using him, he is like in the paint and then he's trying to close out a three-pointer."

YouTube

The former commander in chief, however, didn’t keep his praise to just Anunoby, however, as he listed all the key attributes of Brunson that led him to became NBA Finals MVP. “It’s the toughness and endurance and mental fortitude of that guy,” Obama said. “You just felt like, ‘I’m going to keep coming and I’m not going to doubt myself and not going to let my team doubt myself.’ And for a second-round draft pick, who was a champion, who was a winner, you didn’t see it coming.”

New York Post

NBA Base: Stephen A. Smith: “There was footage of him on camera not looking awake. Dolan sitting right next to him. Both of them look like they were sleeping. You don't expect to hear that from a president that called his predecessor ‘Sleepy Joe’… I'm telling my producers inside the Garden last night, we were told that he was telling folks he is coming back for Game 4, so we don't know what the hell the truth is. All I'm trying to say is that no president — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, HW, I don't give a damn if it was Reagan — no sitting president should be at an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden.”

x.com

Carmelo Anthony on playing with Barack Obama: He's Barry in the gym. He’s Barry. He's Bo in the gym. We wasn't at the White House. We played somewhere else at… It was like Navy or something like that. One of the campuses. We played somewhere. But yeah, I got the call like, "Yo, Obama doing a basketball game, man." He said he needs a shooter. Said he wants you. You have to be there. Damn! I got summoned. I think LeBron was there. We had some older guys and then he invited some of the younger guys. We were just there having a good time man. We played pick up. Q. Did anybody guard him with any gust? Anthony: You guard him but you just can't touch him.

YouTube

Carmelo Anthony: President Barack Obama been around the game for a long time. He's been a major advocate for basketball, for the NBA as a whole. Him being such a global icon, like being able to bring awareness to the NBA and bring people in positions of power around the NBA, he's doing his job. He's like an ambassador for the NBA.

YouTube

Barack Obama: “Looks like you got two out of three on me this time.” Anthony Edwards: “For a old head though, you ain't do too bad for yourself. You, you know, you stood up for yourself. You stood up for the community.

YouTube

NBA on ESPN: The Obama Presidential Center will be open to all visitors this summer — even Anthony Edwards Ant and former President Barack Obama squashed the beef over hoops, ping pong and more

Twitter

Devin Booker pushes Nikola Jokic out of the way to stop him from crashing into President Obama, then daps Barack up

reddit

NBA: "He's my favorite person in the world." Anthony Edwards talks about putting on a show in front of President Barack Obama!

Twitter

Awful Announcing: Reggie Miller: "Do you have a favorite moment during that time in Chicago during the '90s?" Barack Obama: "I always enjoyed watching us beat Indiana." 🏀🔥🎙️ #NBA #NBC

bsky.app

Pelicans Film Room: "Probably Barack... I gotta beat him like 11-0 but it gotta put some type of wager on it. Like you gotta let me come to the White House whenever" -- Derik Queen on if he could play 1 on 1 against anyone in history

x.com

It’s common knowledge that President Barack Obama is a basketball fanatic with a nice jumper. But did you know that late Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., could hoop, too? The story of how MLK and Obama used basketball to make connections is revealed in “Hoops, Hopes & Dreams,” a documentary debuting on Hulu today on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Andscape

“I liked everything about it,” Washington Wizards forward Khris Middleton told Andscape after the film was shown to his teammates at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Jan. 8. “First of all, its basketball. Two of the most important people of our lifetime, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama are playing basketball and also using basketball as a vehicle to encourage people to come out and support their movements, what they were doing and support what they were fighting for. When I watched it at first, I was like, ‘There is no way Martin Luther King was a hooper.’ All hoopers love hoopers. We’ve seen the documentation and videos of Barack playing. But to know that Dr. King played is pretty cool.”

Andscape

Middleton said it was a no-brainer to join as a producer after being invited by Alexys Feaster. Middleton said he has seen the movie five times and gave Feaster feedback after viewing it. His sister, Brittney, also was one of the producers. “Alexis brought this to my attention and I did some research on it,” Middleton said. “We sat and talked about it and I decided this was an easy, ‘Yes,’ with a lot of the things I’ve been involved in the past and was currently. I thought it was a perfect first film to produce.”

Andscape