Baller-in-Chief

(From Kristi Keck for CNN Online)

(CNN) — President Obama and long-time friend Marty Nesbitt shot hoops Saturday at a basketball court inside the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Press aide Ben Finkenbinder, who left the game drenched in sweat, teamed up with Obama on the court. Another Obama staffer and Reggie Love, an Obama aide and former basketball player at Duke University, were also seen leaving the game.

Obama wore workout clothes and a White Sox hat to the game.

Finkenbinder declined to provide many details on the match up, and he didn’t say who won.

No word on whether Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior, was around for the game.

President Obama returns from a game of basketball on Saturday.

(From Lynn Sweet for the Chicago Sun-Times Online)

Pool report #1

Hoops at Interior

At 10:49 a.m., President Obama and pal Marty Nesbitt, in sweat suits, got into the presidential SUV. Reggie Love got in another SUV, holding a basketball. Three minutes later, having passed oblivious tourists on the Ellipse and a dozen or so more observant gawkers on 17th St., the slow-speed motorcade pulled to a stop at the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Who knew they had a basketball court?

Pool held in vans on 18th Street between D and E, which was closed to traffic for a while but reopened until it was time to go. The president, visible in the back seat of his SUV, pulled out at 12:42 for the brief ride home.

No idea if Interior Secretary Salazar played or was even in the building. No idea who won or even who all the players were. We barely caught a glimpse of the First Hoopster.

Nesbitt, in shorts now and with a brace visible on his right leg, walked with a limp into the residence, having apparently suffered a bit of cramping. Press aide Ben Finkenbinder, his T-shirt darkened with sweat from his first basketball game with the boss, was too discreet to provide details on players, score, game highlights or such.

(From Mark Silva of The Swamp at The Chicago Tribune Online)

President Barack Obama, returns to the White House after playing a game of basketball with members of his staff and guests at Interior. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President George W. Bush had his mountain bike.

President Barack Obama has his basketball.

The former president would slip out of the White House on a Saturday morning, if slipping entails a high-speed motorcade, and head for the woods.

This morning, on a cold and overcast day in Washington, the president and friend Marty Nesbitt (pictured here), wearing sweat suits, climbed into the presidential SUV at the White House for a short ride around the Ellipse in a slow-speed motorcade to the Department of Interior.

Obama aide Reggie Love, riding in another SUV, carried the first basketball.

“Who knew they had a basketball court?” the Dallas Morning News’ Todd Gillman, performing Saturday pool duty, wrote of the trip.

Like the former president’s weekly bike rides, which were performed out of eyesight of the pool reporters, the president’s game on the court at Interior was played in private. The outing ran a little under two hours.

It might have been a rough game: Nesbitt, who had joined the president in taking in a game of the Bulls and Wizards the night before at the Verizon Center, wore a brace on his right leg and walked with a limp as they returned to the White House.

Press aide Ben Finkenbinder’s T-shirt was darkened with sweat from his first basketball game with the boss, and played the event like a dutiful press aide would: No details on the players, score or highlights of the game.

(Photo of the president’s friend, Martin Nesbitt, returning to the White House after a basketball game at the Deparment of Interior, by Pablo Martinez Monsivais) / AP. With thanks to print pooler Todd Gillman).

(From LiveJournal.com)

WASHINGTON – FEBRUARY 27: U.S. President Barack Obama attends an NBA game between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards on February 27, 2009 at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC.

(From the Wizards at NBA.com)

The Washington Wizards welcomed President Barack Obama to tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls.

Obama attended the game as a special guest of Abe Pollin, owner of the Wizards and Verizon Center. Tonight marked his first presidential appearance at an NBA game.

“We are very proud and honored that President Obama attended tonight’s game at Verizon Center,” said Pollin. “Irene and I want to officially welcome the president to the neighborhood and hope that he and his family will attend many more events here at Verizon Center.”

Obama viewed the game both from the stands and as a guest in Pollin’s suite. He joins Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as presidents who have attended Wizards/Bullets games.