The Max

Not that The Max would ever misunderestimate Barack Obama’s talents on anything, but when Reggie Miller recently told CNN he believes Obama’s basketball skills may offer clues to his style of leadership, we had to slap Miller with a technical.

C’mon Reg, seriously? Someone here at The Max had a roommate in college who was a a local legend when it came to playing Madden football on the PlayStation 2, but that didn’t mean the couch potato was capable of leading the University’s football team to victory in the NCAA title game. (Another Max reporter’s ex-roommate was also a pro at Grand Theft Auto, yet he never hot-wired a car in his life. Go figure.)

Miller also said he wouldn’t mind “picking [Obama] up on my squad” in a pickup game.

Well, that we agree with. The general rule of thumb is as follows: If the most powerful guy in the land wants to play, you put him on your team, and you let him shoot from halfcourt if he wants to. Even if Obama said he planned to shoot with his feet and dribble with his elbows, you still put him in your starting five.

But Miller had more to say: “[Obama] makes sure that everyone gets involved, and that’s the kind of point guard I want. Those are guys like Magic Johnson, Mark Jackson, John Stockton, it’s not all about them; it’s about let’s
make sure our team is good. He’s going to get the ball to everyone.”

Whoa boy. We get that Miller is trying to relate Obama to some greats people will know, but even mentioning Obama’s b-ball skills in the same sentence as Magic or Stockton is like saying the goalie in this video has a shot at making varsity.

Tags: Barack Obama, basketball, John Stockton, Magic Johnson, NBA, Reggie Miller, soccer