Baller-in-Chief

(From Henry Abbott for TrueHoop at ESPN Online)

Matt Viser of the Boston Globe reports:

Obama will name Russell as one of the recipients of a 2010 Medal of Freedom, according to a White House official. He joins a range of others, including former President George H. W. Bush, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, philanthropist Warren Buffett, poet Maya Angelou, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

An announcement on the White House blog describes Russell’s accomplishments like this:

Bill Russell is the former Boston Celtics’ Captain who almost single-handedly redefined the game of basketball. Russell led the Celtics to a virtually unparalleled string of eleven championships in thirteen years and was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player five times. The first African American to coach in the NBA — indeed he was the first to coach a major sport at the professional level in the United States — Bill Russell is also an impassioned advocate of human rights. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and has been a consistent advocate of equality.

When you put his biography like that, Russell seems like such a no-brainer for an honor of this magnitude.

Isn’t it funny, though, as a basketball fan, that it still feels a little strange to have the political establishment endorse the game, and its players, so profoundly? It’s not that they don’t deserve it, it’s that it’s still so new. The White House has been a place of baseball, by and large, and maybe some football. But this is a basketball White House, and it sure feels different to me, and, I suspect, to Bill Russell.

In any case, congratulations to the best winner in the history of the game, and a pioneer who encountered all manner of nastiness while maintaining every ounce of his dignity.

(From the White House Blog)

Announcing The 2010 Medal of Freedom Recipients

Today, President Obama named fifteen recipients of the 2010 Medal of Freedom — the Nation’s highest civilian honor — presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

“These outstanding honorees come from a broad range of backgrounds and they’ve excelled in a broad range of fields, but all of them have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place,” said President Obama. “I look forward to awarding them this honor next year.”

[...]

Bill Russell is the former Boston Celtics’ Captain who almost single-handedly redefined the game of basketball. Russell led the Celtics to a virtually unparalleled string of eleven championships in thirteen years and was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player five times. The first African American to coach in the NBA—indeed he was the first to coach a major sport at the professional level in the United States—Bill Russell is also an impassioned advocate of human rights. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and has been a consistent advocate of equality.

(From Jason Gay for The Wall Street Journal Online)

Wow, that was a fabulous birthday basketball game President Obama threw himself the other day. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Magic Johnson and Bill Russell. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul.

Scott Baio and Noam Chomsky. Sally Quinn and the Arcade Fire. Warner Wolf and Joan from “Mad Men.”

Or something like that. Did anyone get a confirm on the president’s final roster? The dreamy White House contest was a closely guarded secret. The media were barred, tickets weren’t sold and nobody watched—it felt just like a Memphis Grizzlies home game.

But as Gilbert Arenas could tell you, you can’t hide zesty basketball gossip in D.C. A few details of the game have emerged. Here’s a run-down:

• Mr. Obama finished with 12 points and five rebounds. But the game’s highlight was a backboard-rattling windmill dunk over an embarrassed LeBron by recently retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. The dunk was beautiful, but Justice Stevens yelling “Boo-ya”? Priceless.

• The Knicks agreed to let Amar’e Stoudemire play but only if the Treasury and the World Bank offered to pay the rest of Eddy Curry’s contract.

• Even at 76, Mr. Russell totally dominated young Mr. Anthony, scoring 14 points. No, we’re just making a little joke there. Mr. Russell scored 52.

• At halftime, Mr. Anthony was traded to Russia along with six former KGB spies.

• In what’s surely the first of many oversights, Messrs. James and Wade forgot to tell Chris Bosh about the game.

• Laker veteran Derek Fisher delighted his teammates with wild anecdotes from a similar contest in 1955 with President Eisenhower.

• Mark Cuban didn’t watch the game but was still fined $100,000 by David Stern for thinking about it.

• Impressively, a well-lubricated fan in a Phillies T-shirt managed to sneak in and rush the court, whereupon he was Tasered by the Secret Service and picked up on waivers by the Red Sox.

• When Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov saw the lineup for the game, he angrily asked, “What is President Obama doing with my 2016 Nets roster?” whispered something intensely into his cuff, and was picked up within 15 seconds by a helicopter piloted by Mr. Stern and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Esti Ginzburg.

• Brett Favre was invited, but at the last minute he texted the president and told him he’d retired. Then he called an hour later and said he wasn’t retired. Then he called and said he would wait until his ankle is healed. Now Mr. Favre is in a secret prison, facing a 10-year sentence for annoying Earth.

• The White House reported that Kobe Bryant was there but didn’t play. This is untrue. Mr. Bryant played 10 minutes when he was fouled hard by Mr. Wade. Angered that Mr. Wade didn’t apologize, Mr. Bryant grabbed a PA microphone and cursed out all of the players, grabbed a pair of beers, slid down an emergency inflatable sled and disappeared.

• It goes without saying, but the president’s game couldn’t have been pulled off without the magic recruiting touch of recently hired Knicks consultant Isiah Thomas.

(From Ileana Morales for The Huffington Post)

WASHINGTON — It took one shout of “Who Dat!” to get the celebration started in the White House on Monday as President Barack Obama saluted the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

The band played “When the Saints Go Marching In” as team members came in smiling to cheers and shouts for quarterback Drew Brees. Team owner Tom Benson pumped his fist in the air, flashing a Super Bowl yellow-gold diamond ring.

Obama congratulated the team, owner and coaches in an East Room ceremony. He said the team lifted up “the hopes and the dreams of a shattered city” in the wake of the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

The Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

Obama said the Saints’ Super Bowl win was huge for New Orleans and for the country. He noted that after Katrina, the Saints had to play an entire season on the road because their home stadium, the Superdome, was ruined in the storm.

“Back then people didn’t even know if the team was coming back. People didn’t even know if the city was coming back,” Obama said.

Now, the president said, the Saints proved their team and city are here to stay.

Brees presented the 44th president with a No. 44 Saints jersey. The Chicago Bears fan joked he couldn’t get away with wearing it in Chicago.

Coach Sean Payton is also from Chicago.

“You’ve got to be tough to be a Chicago guy. I make some tough decisions every day, but I never decided on an onside kick in the second half of the Super Bowl,” Obama said.

The Saints took a risk using an onside kick – called ambush – against the Colts to open the second half of the championship game.

“I’m glad that thing went alright,” Obama said. Players and members of Congress and Obama’s Cabinet laughed.

Brees, in a previous White House visit, filmed a public service announcement to encourage kids to exercise for 60 minutes each day. The team spent the morning in Washington playing football with kids from the Boys and Girls Club. Later, they visited wounded troops and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

“These are big guys with big hearts, and shoulders big enough to carry the hopes and dreams of an entire city with them,” Obama said.

Obama also talked about the BP oil spill, the latest disaster to hit the Gulf. He was optimistic about the battle to stop the flow of oil now that the leak appears to be plugged. His administration, he said, remains committed to the Gulf’s recovery.

The president said seafood from the Gulf is now safe to eat, and the White House served some this week. Team members showed off some of New Orleans’ famous cuisine. They served some shrimp to the White House press corps and were sharing recipes with White House staff, including, according to Obama, a 30-foot po-boy that was to be served at lunch.

But before lunch, there were autographs, silent cameraphone clicks and more cheers. Players standing on bleachers in the East Room snapped pictures of the president as he made his way around to shake their hands.

Then the Saints left the same way the came in – to claps, chants of “Who dat!” and the band playing their song.

(More photos.)

(From Shane D’Aprile for The Hill Online)

President Obama hosted more than a dozen current and former basketball pros Sunday for an afternoon game at Fort McNair.

The group included LeBron James, Grant Hill, Dwyane Wade, Joakim Noah (left), and Derrick Rose (center, with Obama). Magic Johnson and Bill Russell served as the coaches. Kobe Bryant was also in attendance, but didn’t play in the pick-up game.

The group played before an audience of “wounded warriors” and participants in the White House mentoring program.

The event was part of the president’s birthday weekend at the White House. He played a round of golf Saturday at Andrews Air Force Base and a barbecue is scheduled on the south lawn of the White House for Sunday afternoon.