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Scottie Pippen says Barack Obama has a “smooth” game

President Barack Obama

WASHINGTON - MAY 9: In this handout provide by the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama plays basketball at Fort McNair on May 9, 2009 in Washington, DC. Obama is serving as the 44th President of the U.S. and the first African-American to be elected to the office of President in the history of the United States. (Photo by Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images)

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David Stern had no fear criticizing Barack Obama’s game, saying he couldn’t go anywhere but left. (Go ahead, make the easy political joke there if you must. But we expect better.)

But Scottie Pippen —who played ball with the president on election day Tuesday — was far more complimentary when speaking with the Bulls official Web site.

“He’s not an overly aggressive player, but he takes what the defense gives him,” said Pippen. “He’s got a smooth game. He probably used to be a little more aggressive, but obviously he doesn’t want to get hurt.”

That certainly wasn’t going to happen if the defense had anything to do about it.

“I thought the lanes opened up when Michael Jordan used to drive,” laughed Pippen. “I used to be like, wow. But when I saw the President drive, I thought they were bringing the whole motorcade through the lane it was so wide.”


If you were the player that gave Obama a black eye or a limp the night he had to go out and give his acceptance speech, let’s just say you better like being audited by the IRS.

Pippen also said Obama was low key and approachable (notice the same thing was always said of the last two presidents before him, George Bush and Bill Clinton).

“When he first entered the gym, if you hadn’t looked over to see him, you wouldn’t have noticed,” said Pippen of Obama. “It was surprisingly low key. He just came in and started shaking hands. He’s someone who is very easy to approach.”