F_U_Buddy
12-10-2009, 07:03 PM
http://www.ocregister.com/sports/obama-223222-lakers-day.html
The Lakers have set a date to be the first NBA champions celebrated at the White House by President Barack Obama: Jan. 25.
The White House isn't prepared to confirm it – and probably won't until about a week before, because sometimes things suddenly come up when you're the leader of the free world – but the visit is now planned on the Lakers' schedule as surely as the game the next night against the Washington Wizards.
Except you can rest assured far more Lakers anticipation and preparation will go into meeting Obama than facing Gilbert Arenas.
What remains to be seen is whether Obama brings the Lakers over to his recently renovated full-size basketball court at the White House. It's hard to imagine the hoops-crazy Obama would miss out on such an opportunity – and would Kobe Bryant be true to his tradition and refuse to take it easy on the prez? – but this is going to be one spectacular moment on the Lakers' side, too.
The White House trip falls on the sixth day of an eight-game, 14-day trip that starts in Cleveland and features Boston as the next-to-last stop. As epic as those games loom to be, they won't compare with meeting Obama for most Lakers.
In fact, the leadership of this Lakers team, in the form of both team captains and the head coach, has been aligned with Obama all along.
Kobe Bryant was one of the millions who went old-school the day after Obama became the first black U.S. President and scurried for commemorative copies of his local newspaper (yes, The Orange County Register) to save for himself and his children.
Derek Fisher was directly involved in the Obama campaign, visiting several different states to rally support and being on hand – with the cell-phone photos of the stage from afar to prove it – when Obama accepted the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Phil Jackson donated money to Obama's campaign and was a vocal public supporter along the way. Jackson also had the pleasure of receiving a phone call of congratulations from Obama the day after the Lakers' championship parade in June, with Obama saying he was a Jackson admirer from when they were both in Chicago and Jackson advising fellow lefty Obama about sometimes having to go right to get his shot off.
Luke Walton also donated money to Obama – the first time Walton has contributed to a presidential campaign. Jordan Farmar was a guest at a Newport Beach fund-raiser that collected than $1 million in campaign contributions. Back at the time of Obama's election over John McCain, Lakers players couldn't debate any issues with each other because they all felt the same way – despite which candidate was the one actually prepared to penalize their tax bracket.
The Lakers' visit will be tied to an as-yet-undetermined community-service project. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Obama did one with military families. When the Boston Celtics made their visit last year, Paul Pierce announced the club was donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Ike relief ... to which President George W. Bush hilariously responded: "That's awesome!"
Bush hosted the Lakers at the White House back in January 2002, the one time from the three-championship run that the Lakers made the special trip. Bryant presented Bush with a Lakers jersey, Shaquille O'Neal handed him an autographed ball, and Bush asked Mark Madsen to dance for him before stopping Madsen by saying: "I'm afraid the Secret Service might react violently if you did."
Obama is unlikely to be as entertainingly wacky as Bush, but Obama's deep basketball ties offer unique potential. He carved out time to watch all the Lakers' NBA Finals games, although he picked them to beat Orlando in six games, not five.
Unfortunately, the Lakers are not planning to have their practice that day on Obama's new South Lawn full court, expanded over an old tennis court. It'd probably be hard for the Lakers to get quality work done on an outdoor court that comes with a few distractions. The Lakers will fly into Washington in the wee morning hours after playing in Toronto the previous night, probably get their team practice out of the way in the morning at an indoor facility and visit Obama later in the day.
So it seems unlikely we'll get to see Sasha Vujacic pestering Obama with annoying in-your-face defense at a Lakers scrimmage to the point that Obama elbows Slovenia right off the map. Yet maybe the Lakers can engage the gunner nicknamed Barry O'Bomber on his Hawaiian high school team in some shooting contests.
After the University of Connecticut women's team visited in April, Obama finished his public meeting with the team, ditched the cameras and reporters and surreptitiously brought the team over to his court – then just a half-court – and rolled up his sleeves to shoot around. His love for pick-up basketball games has been well documented, including playing on election day. And Obama invited another of his big campaign aides, LeBron James, to christen the new White House court. Dwight Howard cared enough to attend Obama's inauguration.
Yet it won't be James, Pierce or Howard who gets the NBA's first Obama White House tour. It'll be the Lakers.
Now somebody just make sure Ron Artest, who'll be the tag-along on Jan. 25, wears his best shirt ... or a shirt.
The Lakers have set a date to be the first NBA champions celebrated at the White House by President Barack Obama: Jan. 25.
The White House isn't prepared to confirm it – and probably won't until about a week before, because sometimes things suddenly come up when you're the leader of the free world – but the visit is now planned on the Lakers' schedule as surely as the game the next night against the Washington Wizards.
Except you can rest assured far more Lakers anticipation and preparation will go into meeting Obama than facing Gilbert Arenas.
What remains to be seen is whether Obama brings the Lakers over to his recently renovated full-size basketball court at the White House. It's hard to imagine the hoops-crazy Obama would miss out on such an opportunity – and would Kobe Bryant be true to his tradition and refuse to take it easy on the prez? – but this is going to be one spectacular moment on the Lakers' side, too.
The White House trip falls on the sixth day of an eight-game, 14-day trip that starts in Cleveland and features Boston as the next-to-last stop. As epic as those games loom to be, they won't compare with meeting Obama for most Lakers.
In fact, the leadership of this Lakers team, in the form of both team captains and the head coach, has been aligned with Obama all along.
Kobe Bryant was one of the millions who went old-school the day after Obama became the first black U.S. President and scurried for commemorative copies of his local newspaper (yes, The Orange County Register) to save for himself and his children.
Derek Fisher was directly involved in the Obama campaign, visiting several different states to rally support and being on hand – with the cell-phone photos of the stage from afar to prove it – when Obama accepted the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Phil Jackson donated money to Obama's campaign and was a vocal public supporter along the way. Jackson also had the pleasure of receiving a phone call of congratulations from Obama the day after the Lakers' championship parade in June, with Obama saying he was a Jackson admirer from when they were both in Chicago and Jackson advising fellow lefty Obama about sometimes having to go right to get his shot off.
Luke Walton also donated money to Obama – the first time Walton has contributed to a presidential campaign. Jordan Farmar was a guest at a Newport Beach fund-raiser that collected than $1 million in campaign contributions. Back at the time of Obama's election over John McCain, Lakers players couldn't debate any issues with each other because they all felt the same way – despite which candidate was the one actually prepared to penalize their tax bracket.
The Lakers' visit will be tied to an as-yet-undetermined community-service project. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Obama did one with military families. When the Boston Celtics made their visit last year, Paul Pierce announced the club was donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Ike relief ... to which President George W. Bush hilariously responded: "That's awesome!"
Bush hosted the Lakers at the White House back in January 2002, the one time from the three-championship run that the Lakers made the special trip. Bryant presented Bush with a Lakers jersey, Shaquille O'Neal handed him an autographed ball, and Bush asked Mark Madsen to dance for him before stopping Madsen by saying: "I'm afraid the Secret Service might react violently if you did."
Obama is unlikely to be as entertainingly wacky as Bush, but Obama's deep basketball ties offer unique potential. He carved out time to watch all the Lakers' NBA Finals games, although he picked them to beat Orlando in six games, not five.
Unfortunately, the Lakers are not planning to have their practice that day on Obama's new South Lawn full court, expanded over an old tennis court. It'd probably be hard for the Lakers to get quality work done on an outdoor court that comes with a few distractions. The Lakers will fly into Washington in the wee morning hours after playing in Toronto the previous night, probably get their team practice out of the way in the morning at an indoor facility and visit Obama later in the day.
So it seems unlikely we'll get to see Sasha Vujacic pestering Obama with annoying in-your-face defense at a Lakers scrimmage to the point that Obama elbows Slovenia right off the map. Yet maybe the Lakers can engage the gunner nicknamed Barry O'Bomber on his Hawaiian high school team in some shooting contests.
After the University of Connecticut women's team visited in April, Obama finished his public meeting with the team, ditched the cameras and reporters and surreptitiously brought the team over to his court – then just a half-court – and rolled up his sleeves to shoot around. His love for pick-up basketball games has been well documented, including playing on election day. And Obama invited another of his big campaign aides, LeBron James, to christen the new White House court. Dwight Howard cared enough to attend Obama's inauguration.
Yet it won't be James, Pierce or Howard who gets the NBA's first Obama White House tour. It'll be the Lakers.
Now somebody just make sure Ron Artest, who'll be the tag-along on Jan. 25, wears his best shirt ... or a shirt.