"My Crossover's...Solid" – Barack Obama

Bill Simmons gets hated on a lot in the blogosphere, most of it unjustified hackery by people with less talent than him. Sure, his columns are rambly, pop culture-infused affairs that often stray from the topic at hand, but that is what he does, and has been doing for 15 years. I certainly don’t agree with all (or even most?) of his opinions, but there is no arguing that the man knows his basketball. I know that without his influence I wouldn’t be writing this blog, and I’m sure many others wouldn't be writing as well.

Today at Grantland he posted a podcast that he did recently with President Obama. I’m not sure if it says more about Simmons or Obama that this actually happened, but it is fascinating nonetheless. They touch on baseball, college football and golf, but spend about half the time talking about basketball. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon your view) Simmons keeps it pretty straitlaced, though Twitter is abuzz with the questions he should have asked (my favorite comes courtesy of @Deadspin: "Let's talk about the Senate. Is Lamar Alexander a Reggie Cleveland All Star?" #SportsguyObamaCast).

A few takeaways from the interview:

1. Obama's best move is a crossover, and he has pulled it off on Chris Paul
2. Obama talking about women's basketball players in skirts and high heels is about as awkward as you think
3. Obama too is concerned about Deng playing 38.3 mpg and Rose playing 35.3
4. Obama claims to have known that Jeremy Lin was a good player (via Arne Duncan, of course), and gets a dig in at the Warriors in the process
5. Obama is a big fan of the Wire...yet still presides over same drug policy that the Wire explicitly slams in every episode

Give it a listen.