NBA players function at the highest levels of society in the modern game. Basketball’s growth has led to an immense increase in revenue for the league, and the wealth that is created as a result has catapulted star players to the most elite levels. The NBA’s best over the last couple of decades have been involved and interacted with celebrities, powerful businessmen, and even Presidents.
While Donald Trump wasn’t exactly on the best terms with the likes of LeBron James, former President Barack Obama was a different case. President Obama interacted with a lot of NBA players and had some great things to say about the sport and the league. And he was a fan of basketball too, he has often weighed in on debates and discussions regarding the game.
And many would be surprised to know that despite being so busy, the former President found time during his tenure to play a few games of pickup here and there. One of which saw him roast Chris Paul, who admitted as much to Bleacher Report.
“I was shocked at how good he was. 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.”
Chris Paul was an excellent defender when he was younger, so this was mighty impressive. But like anyone in his position would CP was taking it a bit easy on the President, or at least that’s how a watching Kobe Bryant saw it.
Kobe Bryant Trash-Talked Chris Paul For Taking It Easy Against Barack Obama In A Pickup Game
Kobe Bryant was also present for this game, it would seem, although injuries prevented the Mamba from playing. It didn’t stop him from giving it off to Paul though, calling him out for taking it easy on the then-President.
“Kobe Bryant was not playing because he was recovering from an injury. But he sat on the sidelines. The President was sort of having his way, and they were letting him doing it. And Kobe called over Chris Paul and said, ‘[You’re the] meanest little motherf—-r in the league, and you won’t get within ten feet of this guy.'”
If there has ever been a man whose competitive spirit wouldn’t even allow him to take it easy against the President, it’s Kobe Bryant. There is no doubt that the Secret Service might have had to get involved if Kobe had been on the court. This is one of those extremely fun but bizarre stories to imagine, surely it’s an experience Chris Paul has not forgotten.
