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When Barack Obama Shocked Chris Paul with Crossover in Pickup Game
Chris Paul once played pickup basketball with the 44th POTUS, Barack Obama, and was impressed by the latter's crossover skills.
When he was in office, former President Barack Obama was well-known for his passion for basketball, especially the pick-up games he hosted at the White House. Initially, these games were just casual Election Day matches with Obama and his staff, but they eventually grew into epic contests featuring NBA stars like Chris Paul and LeBron James.
Every Election Day during his Presidency, Barack Obama would play pick-up basketball. Those events evolved from being basically pick-up games with friends and staffers to ones that included NBA players and whoever was available at that time. Chris Paul, who was one of the invitees at that time, said Obama once crossed him, and he was shocked at the man's skills.
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Chris Paul was impressed with Barack Obama's pickup ball skills
During Obama's time in office, getting a chance to play in these Presidential basketball games became highly sought after, attracting players from the Bulls (Obama’s favorite team) and any other players who happened to be in town that day.
However, joining these games wasn't as easy as just being a basketball player. It started with Obama’s former bodyguard, Reggie Love. To get into these games, you had to go through Reggie first. The more well-known you were, the better your chances were of making it onto the court with the Obama Administration.
And how did the players fare against the then-President? According to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, most players showed the appropriate level of respect and didn’t play too aggressively against Obama, with one notable exception.
Most of these guys would treat Obama in a deferential manner; they wouldn’t go too hard on him. Except for Chris Paul. He was always the most intense of the guys who went after him.
Paul stated, "I was shocked at how good he was," in an oral history about Obama's basketball background via 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.”
Many people, including former senior advisor David Axelrod, shared stories of Obama’s enthusiasm for basketball on the campaign trail. Axelrod once feared he had broken Obama’s nose in a pick-up game in Philadelphia.
Obama recently recreated a classic 'Key & Peele' moment when greeting Team USA basketball players
Obama's love for basketball continues. And thanks to the former president, the streaming stats for the beloved (and long-defunct) sketch comedy series Key & Peele are most certainly about to see a boost.
As you’ve no doubt seen making the rounds this morning, a clip of the former POTUS greeting members of the Team USA men’s basketball lineup shows him more or less recreating one of the most celebrated moments from Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key’s five-season Comedy Central hit.
In the Team USA clip, Obama appears to be employing the same dap-or-handshake differentiation process as Peele's version of the 44th president.
Longtime Key & Peele fans will note that this is a full circle moment in more ways than one, as the original sketch was itself preceded by footage of Obama doing the same during a prior Team USA meet-up while in office.
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