Lebron James gets a hug from First Lady Michelle Obama
From the Denver Post, "Mark Kiszla: Michelle Obama, Team mom for U.S. basketball?" on 29 July 2012, by Mark Kiszla --LONDON — It's an election year. Is Michelle Obama running for Team Mom of the U.S. basketball team?
While filing off the court, everybody from guard Chris Paul to coach Mike Krzyzewski got a hug from Obama after Team USA trounced France, 98-71,Sunday to open the Olympic tournament.
"It was pretty cool," Paul told me.
Let's hope the First Lady also remembered to pack the orange slices.
But here's a minor complaint: Don't NBA stars already get enough love? And what does an Olympic fencer or archer have to do to get a hug?
The presence of Obama at the game was a reminder that the country's eyes are fixed on NBA stars whose mission is gold or bust. "That's what makes the Olympics so special. This
isn't just Los Angeles or New York watching us play," Paul said. "This is global."
Asked if there is an Olympic athlete he's itching to meet at the Summer Games, LeBron James paused to think, then replied: "No."
Get it? The U.S. basketball players are the coolest kids in the Olympic cafeteria, rivaled only by charismatic sprinter Usain Bolt.
We are a star-struck global society. Heck, even U.S. swim coach Teri McKeever admits to a crush on Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, and hopes they somehow cross paths at the Summer Games.
Why? "Because he'd be nice-looking," McKeever said.
Take a poll of Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant and James. To a man, they don't want NBA commissioner David Stern to get his wish for a maximum age of 23 at the Olympic basketball tournament.
The U.S. players' love for country is straight from the heart, and they genuinely enjoy hanging out with elite teammates. But, make no mistake, the international marketing opportunity at the Games is also important to a brand as big as King James.
The part of me that raises the goose bumps when the Olympic theme is played thinks basketball superstars steal the spotlight that should instead shine, if ever so briefly, on rowers or mountain bikers. Bryant and fellow NBA millionaires make it a point to attend events to show respect for the skill and commitment of athletes who will never become household names.
Obama, however, gave hugs to James and the gang because the First Lady knows the score.
The Olympics might purport to be about the purity of sport.
But we're all suckers for the rich and famous. (source: The Denver Post)
