Barack Obama was known to play intense pickup basketball games with a small circle of Beltway insiders during his Presidency, as author Michael Lewis reported at the time.
So when the former Commander In Chief watches the lackadaisical play at NBA All-Star Games, he can’t help but be disgusted.
‘Y’all gotta have a little more pride in that All-Star Game,’ Obama told NBA All-Star Tyrese Haliburton on his podcast, Young Man and the Three. ‘It’s not as if you all don’t play pickup during the summers. You know how to play in a way that, ‘alright, I’m not going to hurt anybody, I’m not going to take anybody out,’ but that All-Star Game, it’s broke, man.
‘Like, people just like not running,’ Obama added. ‘Everybody just trying all kinds of… it used to be when Kobe [Bryant] and Michael [Jordan] and Isaiah [Thomas] and those guys were playing, man. I mean they weren’t playing the way they did regular season, but they wanted to win.
‘This is your business,’ he concluded. ‘This is your product. You don’t want people thinking you’re all out there just half-assed.’
Barack Obama is done watching NBA All-Star Games until something changes
Tyrese Haliburton interviewed Obama on his podcast, Young Man and the Three
There are no rules against playing defense in NBA All-Star Games, but the practice has become frowned upon as the annual sponsor-driven event devolves into a layup line each year.
February’s was no different.
The East beat the west 211-186, in what Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo described as ‘fun.’
Viewers were less convinced.
Despite setting a record for total points (397) and made 3-pointers (42), NBA All-Stars drew criticism from just about anyone who had hoped to see a competitive exhibition.
Even commissioner Adam Silver has admitted the All-Star Game is effectively broken due to too much focus being placed on halftime performances and such.
‘We’re sending mixed signals,’ he told ESPN. ‘And if we want guys to treat this like a real game … we have to treat it that way.’
