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Video: President Obama Knew About Jeremy Lin Way Before You Did
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 1, 2012
Modified Mar 1, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 1, 2012
Modified Mar 1, 2012
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In between trying on hipster fedoras and assassinating Andrew Breitbart, President Obama fit in some time in his busy schedule to sit down with Grantland's Bill Simmons and talk about sports. And of course Obama took some time to talk about Jeremy Lin—actually, he bragged that he knew about Lin before it was cool: "I knew about Jeremy before you did, or anyone else did."
Jeremy Lin is doing good. I knew about Jeremy before you did, or anyone else did, because Arne Duncan, my Secretary of Education, was captain of the Harvard team. And so way back when, Arnie and I were playing, and he said, "I'm telling you we've got this terrific guard named Jeremy Lin at Harvard." And then one of my best friends, his son is a freshman at Harvard, so when he went out for a recruiting trip he saw Lin in action. So I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for awhile.
Duncan has previously tweeted about Lin before. Obama, of course, was a graduate of Harvard Law School, while Lin went to Harvard as an undergrad. Obama also talked about watching SportsCenter in the morning, sneaking in league games at night, and says that while he can't take credit for Linsanity, he "was there early."
It's a great story. And what's interesting is the fact that somehow folks were missing it in practice. That's what's interesting, because you have to assume that during scrimmages, he was running that pick and roll pretty well. It's a terrific story, he seems like a wonderful young man, and it elevates this great sport all around the world. It can't hurt ratings for basketball in China.
Check out the full interview at Grantland, including his favorite White House visits from championship teams, wisdom he recently dispensed to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, and how he beat a WNBA player in Horse. Our favorite part: he guarantees that his hometown Chicago Bulls will eventually make it to the White House as champions while he's in office—and they have plenty of time, because "I've got another five years here."
Tagged
basketball
bill simmons
jeremy lin
knicks
linsanity
obama
president obama
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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