Barack Obama and the Metaphor of Basketball

The other day I heard from my friend Chris.  We've known each other since high school and over the years, have been in and out of touch.  By coincidence, he e-mailed me several days before Super Tuesday and I was sure it had to do with the election.  It didn't.  He wrote regarding the new Herbie Hancock CD, River: The Joni Letters.  We both love jazz and he wanted to share this new CD, one of his top three of all time which is saying a lot.  Also, by coincidence, I had just seen Herbie Hancock in the Yes We Can video and passed along the link.

The point to all this is that I had been thinking of Chris lately because years before, when Barack Obama was teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago, Chris played basketball with him at a regular weekly game.  I thought, how cool is that...my friend played basketball with the next President of the United States.  

Chris wrote back, talking about those days on the court with Barack Obama before he ran for anything.  I thought it gave great insight into the man's character, in an era of spin and news cycles. This metaphor matters, which is why I'm sharing Chris' e-mail below.

"Playing basketball with President Obama?  Now that would be something.  Often times, I wonder how it would feel to play basketball with Barack at this stage in his life.  It would be interesting to compare Barack before his rise to prominence and after it.  You know, to see if the vicissitudes of the past several years, his experiences, his challenges, his failures, his successes and the accolades that have been bestowed upon him, if in fact, these things have changed his outlook on life, which I am quite certain would readily manifest itself in his game.  

What I do remember about Barack, is that he had mad skills and a killer cross-over dribble.  He was quick and had a fairly decent understanding of the game.  He was good, however, in my very humble opinion, I would assess his total ability to be more of an average-good.  But what was most impressive about Barack is that he was a team player.  He always looked to bring others into the game.  You could tell that he was adept at assessing your talent and just as adept at trying to leverage it when possible to the benefit of the team.

I've always believed that the way an individual plays basketball or their general approach to any organized team sport for that matter is a clear manifestation of how they live their life.  If an individual is a ball-hog on the basketball court, they'll be selfish in life; if they cheat in sports, they'll cheat in life; if they are passionate about the sport in which they participate; they will, more than likely, be passionate about life; if they approach the game from a negative bent, then they will reflect that same disposition in life; and if they illustrate poor sportsmanship, then I doubt that they would be good stewards in the game of life.

On the basketball court, Barack engendered respect.  He was mild mannered, but firm.  He was never vociferous, yet, stated his opinion with measured passion.  I recall, at times, when we played opposite each other and I guarded him, he would talk smack in an effort to distract you as he prepared to work the magic of that killer cross-over dribble.  It was all good natured.  One thing I do remember about his cross-over, is that if he couldn't fake you with it, ultimately he would disarm you enough to pull up for a jump shot.

At times he could be one of the boys and at times he was just the opposite.  He was teaching at the U of C School of Law and working with grassroots organizations and, I guess, being a professor at the U of C  required a certain amount of decorum on the B-ball court.

The last time I ran into Barack was when he was running for the Senate.  I was standing on the corner of North Avenue and Wells with another friend who also played ball at the U of C.  Barack approached us and we talked briefly.  We wished him the best in his run and he was off.  As always, he was cordial, brief and pleasantly aloof. That's Barack."

A killer cross-over dribble.  There's a metaphor right there.  Look out, John McCain.