Over at Grantland.com Bill sImmons got the prestigious honor to do a B.S. Report podcast from inside the White House, and none other than President Barack Obama as his guest of honor.
Simmons and the President had a lot to talk about, from the hit TV series The Wire, what's on the President's ipad, and of course sports, where Simmons and Obama had some entertaining dialogue about the Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and the Los Angeles Clippers.
President Obama and Chris Paul and good friends, and Simmons asked the President jsut how much influence he has in their relationship:
BS: Is it true that you blocked the Chris Paul trade because you didn't want him to go to the Lakers? [Laughter.]
Obama: I love Chris Paul. He's a great guy.
He's on my Presidential Fitness Council. And I've gotten to know a lot of these guys, because for my 49th birthday I had my own little All-Star Game here.
BS: I heard about that. I wasn't invited.
Obama: You weren't? Maybe next time. So Chris was one of the guys who played. And I did a little crossover on him. He claims that he could have stolen the ball. Everybody who was there knows that that's not true. The second time, he might have stolen the ball. The first time he didn't know I had that move on me.
BS: So you surprised him with it?
Obama: I did, yes. Yes. My crossover is solid.
Here's a little anecdote about Obama in Orlando for the All-Star game, getting his two cents in about how Blake Griffin has been playing:
We were down at an event in Vince Carter's house down in Florida, and Magic was there, and Chris Paul came - it was right before the All-Star Game, so they were all - a lot of them were in town. And Chris had to leave early because he had some sort of Nike event that he had to go to. So I just rang him up to say thank you for coming. And we started talking a little about basketball and how great the Clippers were doing.
And I said, man, Blake Griffin is unbelievable, and you guys seem to be really clicking. I said, the only thing is you got to tell Blake to just take that 12-, 15-footer when he gets it because he's got a good stroke, but he always looks like he's hesitating a little bit because he wants to go inside. And if he starts getting that shot like Karl Malone, he'll be unstoppable.
And Chris says, "Man, I just told him that." He said, "He's going to be here in two minutes. Can you hold on?" I said, no, you can just go ahead -
BS: He passed that along?
Obama: Just passed it along. I will point out that I think he's been taking more outside jumpers. That's good. He's got to work on that shot, and he's going to be - he could be the best power forward ever if he develops it.
Whatever your politics, gotta admit Brarack Obama seems like a pretty cool guy just to hang out and shoot the breeze with.
For more on the Clippers, head over to Clips Nation.