Obama Roots Bulls First, Then The Heat

 President Barack Obama appeared at a private event in Alonzo Mourning's back yard Monday night. It's always good to hear about a U.S. president who not only knows the game of basketball, but actually has game and looks for chances to hang out with the world's best ballers. 

 Current Miami Heat stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were among Alonzo's guests and the two enjoyed spending time with Obama. 

 "We went to Alonzo's house," Bosh said. "He just had a couple people over. It was really nice just chilling, just the guys. It was a cool experience just to get to meet the president because I've never met the president before." 

 But the good news kinda stops there. According to people at the party, Obama said he'd be rooting for the Heat except for when they played the Bulls. That's not as bad as when presidential candidate and lifelong Yankee fan Rudy Giuliani said he'd root for the Red Sox while campaigning in Massachusetts, but it's pretty close.

 Obama should be rooting against the Heat every single time they step onto the court. 

 As a Chicago Bulls fan, Obama should know that his team will benefit just about every time the Heat lose. The Bulls could well be in the top 4 teams in the Eastern Conference, maybe even a 1 seed. If they lose out on home court to the Heat, how happy will Obama be then?

 Additionally, both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade spurned the Bulls' invitation to bring their talents to Chicago. Are other real Bulls or even Knicks or Cavs fans going to be rooting for the Heat? Doubtful and Obama shouldn't either. 

 I could see if Obama wanted to make his second favorite team the Lakers. They're the only NBA team to earn their way to the White House since Obama was elected. So far, the Kobe era of Laker championships runs the same span as Obama's presidency. Is Obama going to root for the Heat when they face his old pals Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher? How could he?

 Or what about rooting for a young guy with his head screwed on straight who happens to play in a red state? Kevin Durant. He's from Washington D.C., went to college at Texas (red state) and plays in Oklahoma (red state). Instead of rooting for the evil empire of the Miami Heat, Obama would be rooting for a young Luke Skywalker and possibly gaining votes at the same time. 

 If the Bulls take care of business and earn the number one seed, none of this should matter as the president could be rooting for Joakim Noah to dominate Andrew Jesus Bynum on the way to the Bulls' first post-Jordan championship. 

     

Only One #6

LeBron James is reportedly changing his number from #23 to #6 because he wants to honor Michael Jordan's legacy by self-retiring 23. He apparently doesn't know about Bill Russell's 11 championships including 2 as a player/coach, 2 college championships including 1 undefeated season, & gold medal.



Here's a little more about Bill Russell, the 5 time MVP.

He changed the game by jumping to block shots, dominating with a technique that was unheard of in his era. He owned the giant of his day, Wilt the Stilt. Chamberlain might have had bigger stats. Bill had more rings, and his defense on Wilt played a huge part in attaining them.




Openly supporting Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted wasn't the popular sentiment in America at the time. Russell did that. While Jordan doesn't campaign against Carolina Crackers because "Republicans buy sneakers too", Bill Russell called out the media of Boston as well as some of the area's citizens for their racist convictions.

He skipped his Hall Of Fame induction. He also skipped the night when the Celtics retired his jersey. Maybe that's why LeBron doesn't remember/respect the magnitude of #6.



Unfortunately there aren't very many highlights showing the defensive dominance of Bill Russell. If there were, maybe we'd have a Blocked Shot contest during All Star Weekend, giving bonus points for blocking a shot and keeping it in play to a teammate.

However, there is a clip that shows a glimpse of what a no-nonsense person Bill Russell is and what kind of intense competitor he was. 1981 NBA Finals, Rick Barry & Bill Russell analyzing a finals game with some dweeb announcer. Barry puts the words "fool", "watermelon" & "grin" in a sentence desribing a photo of Bill Russell. If there weren't cameras present, Rick might have been the next Rudy T.



No disrespect to MJ. LeBron, if you're going to show love to #23, show even more to #6. Bill Russell, a champion on & off the court standing with the likes of Jim Brown & Muhammad Ali, is arguably more impressive than a guy jumping from the foul line in his Republican Hanes.