Former United States president and massive basketball fan Barack Obama recently revealed his personal starting lineup in promotion of the Netflix sports documentary series, “Starting 5.”
The series covers the on-and-off-court exploits of Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler, and Domantas Sabonis in the 2023-24 season. All ten episodes of the series are now online on the streaming platform.
While the choices would have seemed obvious, Obama didn’t include the LA Lakers legend Kobe Bryant nor his teammate Shaquille O’Neal and their predecessor Magic Johnson.
He shared a video on his X account revealing his personal starting five.
“I’m going to talk about my favorite starting five,” Obama said. “If I just put together a team where I would enjoy watching it, and I think they’d beat anybody. … MJ, Michael Jordan, at shooting guard. I’d put LeBron at point forward.
“But I want a little shooting and a little flair. I’m going to put my friend Steph Curry into the mix because we’re in the 3-point era … At center, I’m going to put Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, whose game I think translates to this game. This last spot is tough. … I’ve got to go with Kevin Durant, KD.”
When he was still president, Barack Obama invited Bryant and the 2010 Lakers roster to the White House after they won the NBA championship title by beating the franchise’s longtime rival Boston Celtics. He also offered his condolences to Kobe’s family when he and his daughter Gianna died on Jan. 26, 2020.
Widely recognized as one of the greatest basketball players of all-time, “The Black Mamba” played all his 20 years with the Lakers, winning five NBA championships for the Purple and Gold. He also wore the Red, White, and Blue when he joined Team USA in representing the country and winning two gold medals in the Olympics.
Barack Obama used to dream about being an NBA player
In promotion of the Netflix special “WorkingL What We Do All Day” in 2023, Barack Obama shared that he used to dream about being an NBA player.
“First job (was) Baskin-Robbins in Honolulu, Hawaii,” Obama said. “As a kid, I’d tell adults that my dream job was to be an architect. But secretly, I was convinced I’d be an NBA player. I had no hops.”
While he never realized his dream of playing in the NBA due to not being blessed with athletic gifts, the former president was instead led to greater heights.
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