Barack Obama and Basketball

Walking through the living room one weekday evening, I glanced at the television as a national news broadcast played a 10-second clip of Barack Obama playing basketball. He's not bad. Good body control. Dribbles decently. Dished off a pass to his teammates. And then he drove the paint. And scored.

Those 10 seconds told me as much as I will ever need to know about Barack Obama as a human being. Call it the "basketball zone" or whatever you want to call it: One can learn volumes from how a man (or woman) plays the game.

I once managed a popular recreation center where more than 150 players a night showed up to play pickup basketball. There were players of every race and background who came to play. We had a system for setting up teams that was supposed to be democratic, but players were always trying to get on teams together, the better to own the court that night. You could see them queuing up outside the doors to walk in non-chalant like they just happened to arrive in a certain order. Then they'd stroll into the building, each carrying a ball or gym bag under their arms, like it was all serendipity that 5 of the best players around deserved the radical option of playing together against squads of inferior players.

I mention all this because basketball is a game of politics as well as physical talent. At least, basketball as played in most of the gyms across North America is politics. At a very young age, you have to learn how to negotiate your way onto good teams, and then hold your own as a player. Because the next day or the next week or even the next month when you show up at the court, it is your reputation that will get you back out on the floor. And basketball players have long memories. They remember well who is a good player, and who is not.

Not that I haven't seen players misjudged or unjustly frozen out. Some basketball players are blind to certain player benefits and forms of potential. For example, a good defensive player can be extremely valuable when the other four players on the team prefer street ball over disciplined basketball. Someone has to guard the best player on the other team, after all. Four offensive wizards do not always mean victory for a high scoring team. Just ask the Phoenix Suns.

As I watched those 10 seconds of Barack Obama playing basketball on TV, I knew that he would be a good player to have on the team. Whoever chose those clips displayed a microcosm of the man's game. Of course we don't know if he is a ball hog or has a terrible jump shot. Both can be deadly flaws in basketball. But the manner in which he passed the ball shows that Barack Obama at least understands the flow of the game. He knew where the open man would be. You don't get those skills by being a natural ball hog because you never learn to see the open man in the first place.

As for his jump shot, we must suppose that he learned that skill along the way. Otherwise former pro players like Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (who played professionally in Australia) would not want to play basketball with Barack Obama.

Physical and mental skills feed equally into the politics of playing basketball. Even teams who have played a long time together can develop political rifts. Think Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Those are giant men with giant egos, and sometimes talent creates a clash of wills. Somehow those two did make success from their own massive abilities. Enough to win the NBA title a few times. Ultimately they had to part ways. The politics of basketball drove them apart.

There are often conflicts on a basketball court. It is not a game known for fighting like hockey, but fights do break out on occasion. I witnessed one such conflict develop at an open gym one Saturday afternoon. A player on a losing team grew frustrated and verbally challenged anyone on the floor to a fight. The individual that took that challenge stood about 5'10" and weighed an estimated 220 lbs--of pure muscle. He had been an All-Area lineman for a local football team. The angry player raised a chair as if to strike the football player, who said, "Go ahead. Because it will be the last thing you ever do."

I am hoping Barack Obama has the guts and determination to exhibit the same fortitude in the face of challenges from our enemies, be they terrorists or disenfranchised nations.

To use the basketball metaphor here, the attitude of Bush administration toward international relations was akin to walking out on the basketball floor at the start of the game and saying, "We're tougher than anyone here. Don't even think about starting a fight." The game itself (which in politics is diplomacy) was regarded as a secondary issue. Instead the Bushies decided to try to win the game through sheer intimidation.

But as we've seen, the pre-emptive form of intimidation can actually put you in a position of weakness when someone with the wits or the resources has the nerve to resist your will. Dick Cheney has always seemed like that angry guy with the chair. George Bush always seemed like the player who would jump off the bench in a heartbeat when a fight breaks out on the floor. Bush was never in the starting lineup but somehow the Republicans decided to push him on the floor and Bush got chippy in an effort to prove his real worth. That's how we wound up with a war in Iraq.

By contrast, Obama seems to believe that being a real player is the way to earn respect. His intellect and his wonky approach to the "game" of politics is just like his love of the complex and aggressive game known as basketball. It did not surprise me that Obama slipped with a derogatory comment using Special Olympics as the lowest common denominator of physical talent in sports. Basketball players make ugly jokes like that all the time. It's called "talking smack." So Obama will have to learn to bite his tongue and not let slip with basketball idioms or other off-the-cuff remarks.

His willingness to admit his flaws in the first place should have been part of the lesson we all learned from his supposed gaffe. After all, you can't be the best at everything. It simply isn't possible. Consider the Special Olympics oath, which reads: "Let me win, but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt."

People with experience in competitive sports (like basketball) know there are no guarantees when you step out on the floor. The better team with a better strategy does not always win the game.

But knowing that our leaders recognize the importance and subtleties of playing a game well can and should be an inspiration to all of us. That's why it is important that a man like Barack Obama has game on the basketball court. It is an indication of a character and an approach to the game of life that was frankly missing the last 8 years in America.

Drive to the hoop, Barack, and dish off if need be. Then get back on defense. Arms out. Feet apart. Shut down the lanes. Make the steal. Shoot the outlet pass. Follow the shot. Grab the rebound. Go back up for the shot. Put it in!

Yes! Yes! Yes, we can! We can play this game, America! After all, we invented it!