There were a lot of celebrities in the building for Team USA’s first exhibition before the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Arguably the most beloved person in Las Vegas to check out LeBron James, Stephen Curry and the rest of Team USA was the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.
Obama’s basketball fandom is well known as he had a private basketball court built in the White House when he was in office and would invite NBA stars to play pick-up games. He has always been extremely popular amongst many NBA players and LeBron is no different as the Los Angeles Lakers star truly appreciates any time spent around the former President.
And James would speak on this following Team USA’s victory over Canada, calling it a treat to speak with Obama, who he considers one of the best people in the history of this world, via Ben Golliver of the Washington Post:
“It’s always a treat. You get to talk to one of the greatest people this world has ever seen, in my opinion. His vision, his mindset, his words are always resonating in more ways than one. So to be able to sit down with a former President, a friend of mine that I really call a dear friend is pretty awesome.”
Obama appeared to have spoken to James and the rest of Team USA as they begin their Olympic journey:
"When we go to the Olympics we’re going to have these amazing young men and amazing young women who are going to be showcasing what America should be – that’s an inspiration, so I just want to say thank you to all of you for everything you’ve done." – @BarackObama addresses the… pic.twitter.com/ZXIirlS2c6
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 11, 2024
There aren’t many people who can consider a former President of the United States a dear friend, but James is one of them. And Obama was the most popular person inside T-Mobile Arena with many former players getting pictures with him throughout the night. Obama even seemingly recreated a famous skit from the sketch comedy show Key & Peele in which he gave Team USA players and coaches different forms of handshakes and hugs.
There are many who feel just as strongly as LeBron does about Obama and the former President just exudes a level of cool that few can match. There is no doubt that James and his Team USA teammates all thoroughly enjoyed any time spent with the former President.
LeBron James reacts to alley-oop from Stephen Curry in Team USA victory
Without a doubt one of the biggest highlights from the Team USA exhibition win over Canada was LeBron James catching an alley-oop from Stephen Curry in the second half of the game. The two longtime rivals are finally on the same side and made for some beautiful moments in the game with that being the best.
LeBron reacted to the lob after the game, calling him and Curry two players who love basketball and try to share with each other. The Lakers star lamented missing Curry for an open 3 earlier in the game but was happy they were able to connect later.
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