(From the Kansas City Star Online)
Because this is a Basketball Cabinet, and some of these guys — and women — have game, though Obama was quick to point out that his selection of Arne Duncan as his education secretary didn’t happen “because he’s one of the best basketball players I know.”
Duncan, you see, is a former co-captain of the Harvard basketball team who played professionally in Australia before becoming the head of the Chicago school system.
James L. Jones, Obama’s choice for national security adviser, played forward at Georgetown.
Personal aide Reggie Love played on a Duke team that won the NCAA title.
Illinois state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, another Obama insider, played professionally in Greece.
Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner hates to miss a pickup game. Toss in Eric Holder, the incoming attorney general, and Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Both played in high school.
Hillary Clinton, Obama’s Secretary of State, played half-court basketball when she was growing up — and she may even have game.
Janet Napolitano, Obama’s choice for homeland security secretary, has regularly been the guest coach at Arizona’s three state universities.
The basketball court is clearly a place where Obama develops rapport. But it’s also a proving ground for the kinds of skills a leader needs, said Dave Czesniuk of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston. Czeniuk added that as long as Obama gets a good mix of backgrounds, political views and, yes, athletic abilities in his Cabinet, basketball should remain an “active, dynamic, positive force” in his administration.
“I think there’s a lot to be said for folks who managed participating in sports with academics,” he said. “There are time-management skills involved and certainly social development skills and confidence, self-esteem building as well as the ability to deal with difficult situations.”
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