Obama: I Knew About Jeremy Lin Before You

Also, he once beat Maya Moore at HORSE
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 1, 2012 10:02 AM CST
Obama: I Knew About Jeremy Lin Before You
President Barack Obama waves and and first lady Michelle Obama, top left, talks during the Oregon State versus Towson NCAA college basketball game at Towson University, Nov. 26, 2011, in Towson, Md.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Obama wants you to know that he had his eye on Jeremy Lin before it was cool. Obama sat down with Bill Simmons for a half-hour of sports talk on today's BS Report (audio here), and the first question was how he felt about being America's second most famous Harvard grad. "I knew about Jeremy before you did, or everybody else did," Obama shot back, explaining that he got the heads up from former Harvard basketball captain (and current Secretary of Education) Arne Duncan. "So I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while."

Other tidbits from the podcast:

  • Obama boasted that he once beat UConn star Maya Moore at HORSE. But "she was wearing high heels and a skirt at the time. So I’m not sure if that counts."
  • Obama says that when he plays basketball, "I'm always getting knocked around." People play hard against him, he explains, because they know if he beats them "they won't hear the end of it."
  • He says throwing out the first pitch at an MLB game is "the most stressful thing" he does. "Each time I go up there my thinking is All right, I’m just going to blaze this thing in. And then I’m thinking, Man, if I throw a grounder that’s going to be a problem."
  • He says he's friends with Michael Jordan, and thinks he's the first politician Jordan ever donated to.
  • He says he will one day welcome his Chicago Bulls to the White House as NBA champions. "You're guaranteeing it?" Simmons asked. "Well, I've got another five years here," Obama replied. Simmons: "You're guaranteeing that, too!"
(More Barack Obama stories.)

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