Barack Obama briefly showed off his silky left-handed shooting stroke on Saturday as he walked through the gymnasium at the old Flint Northwestern High School in Michigan, where he spoke at a drive-in rally with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
A video of the impromptu moment captures the former US president receiving a bounce pass, taking one dribble and lofting a step-back three-pointer that rips through the net amid cheers from onlookers.
Olivia Raisner
(@OliviaRaisner)
so this was absolutely insane pic.twitter.com/W4JL6LQZxq
October 31, 2020
“That’s what I do!” Obama shouts as he walks off the court, coffee in hand and Biden in pursuit. “That’s what I do!”
The clip quickly went viral in the hours after Saturday’s rally, garnering praise from no less than LeBron James.
“Now you just showing out now my friend!!” the recently minted NBA finals Most Valuable Player tweeted. “That’s what you do huh?? Ok ok I see. All cash!”
The gym where Obama’s casually drained the shot is hallowed ground among the prep basketball cognoscenti. Flint Northwestern, which shuttered in 2018, produced a formidable number of NBA players down the years, including Trent Tucker, Morris Peterson and Jeff Grayer.
Glen Rice, who was named Michigan’s Mr Basketball in 1985 and led the University of Michigan to an NCAA title in 1989, also played for the Wildcats.
Other Flint Northwestern alumni include two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields, former world heavyweight title-holder Chris Byrd and five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Andre Rison.
Obama and Biden made their first joint appearance of the 2020 campaign on Saturday during a two-city jaunt through Michigan. The drive-in rally in Flint preceded a similar get-out-the-vote event later Saturday in Detroit.
Polls show that Biden has maintained his lead in Michigan, a traditional Democratic stronghold which Donald Trump won by a 0.3% margin that averaged out to two votes per precinct in 2016. The RealClearPolitics average of recent Michigan polls, taken between 21 and 27 October, shows Biden with an 8.7-point advantage over the incumbent president.
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