President Barack Obama talks trash to Paul Pierce at White House Easter Egg Roll
Noted basketball obsessive Barack Obama, whose well-documented love of hoops has been a favorite topic here at BDL throughout his two terms as president of the United States, welcomed several members of the Washington Wizards to the White House on Monday to participate in the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. (Those Wiz are getting to be regulars over at ol’ 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it seems.) As part of the festivities, Obama joined a group of children and Wizards players John Wall, Paul Pierce, Bradley Beal, Kevin Seraphin and Garrett Temple in a brief shooting game at an outdoor court on the premises, which concluded with POTUS hitting a short jumper for the win.
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After his winner, the leader of the free world took advantage of the opportunity to flex a bit, playfully going at “The Truth” in a fashion that reminds us that, beneath the layers of strategy, diplomacy, international relations experience and political maneuvering, there lies a dude who absolutely lives for getting after it in a pickup game:
“That’s three in a row!” Obama woofed as he walked toward Pierce. “What you gonna do now? What you got to say?”
The answer, of course, was nothing, because Paul Pierce is a smart and seasoned veteran, and he doesn’t want those Secret Service problems.
But this is Washington. There’s always another angle to play.
Pool: A ball very lightly hit POTUS in the face when he was under the basket catching rebounds & Wizards’ Paul Pierce seemed to apologize
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 6, 2015
“Seemed to.” Shrewd, clever, slick, Truth. Somebody’s been watching “House of Cards.”
All-Star point guard Wall, for his part, “came away impressed with the Chicago southpaw,” according to Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post:
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“It was fun. [Obama’s] got the weirdest jump shot release but today he showed off,” the all-star point guard said. “He showed off today. He hit two game-winners so he showed off a little bit today.”
The five players were separated to captain five teams of children. But Wall was the only player shooting — his teammates were only retrieving rebounds and helping the children on their squad shot. Obama then joined Wall’s team and they won two straight games before the other Wizards began shooting. But Obama and Wall won the last game to finish with three straight victories anyway and Obama added some boasted after his late-game heroics.
“He trash-talked Paul when he hit the game-winner,” Wall said. “He was like, ‘I’m clutch, I’m clutch.’”
The degree to which you agree with that sentiment likely depends on your political leanings, of course, but if nothing else, I’m all for a president who talked NBA-related smack from just after his inauguration to the waning days of his second term. It’s tough to imagine the next commander-in-chief spitting yang this liberally … at least, until Gary Payton decides to throw his hat in the ring. Glove/Kemp 2016. Who’s with me?
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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