Barack Obama Admits to Being on ' Jeremy Lin Bandwagon' Early (VIDEO)
President Barack Obama has "been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while," according to a new interview between the president and ESPN's Bill Simmons.
The interview, which appeared on Simmons' "B.S. Report" podcast this morning, covered Lin, the Bulls, and the president's crossover dribble, but very little politics.
"Jeremy is doing good," Obama told Simmons. "And I knew about Jeremy before you did, or everybody else did, because Arne Duncan, my Secretary of Education, was captain of the Harvard team. And so way back when, Arne 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, and so when he went for a recruiting trip he saw Lin in action. So I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while."
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Simmons asked the president if he was trying to take credit for "Linsanity," to which Obama replied, "I can't take credit for it, but I'm just saying I was there early."
This isn't the first time that Obama's love for Lin has come up in the press.
In mid-February, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that the president had been following Lin when possible.
"It's a great story, and yes [Obama's] very impressed and fully up to speed," said Carney.
When Simmons asked why the president didn't push Lin toward Obama's hometown Bulls, though, Obama revealed that he was still more of a Chicago fan than a Lin fan.
"Well, we've got this pretty good point guard on the Bulls as well," said Obama. "So he might not have gotten as much PT as he did."
The president later added that he didn't think Lin and the Knicks were a threat, because, "even with Rose out, even with Deng out, [the Bulls] still got one of the best records in the league."
Obama even said that he's been dreaming of welcoming the World Champion Bulls to the White House "every year."
"And it hasn't happened yet," he added, "but it will happen…I've got another five years here."
