San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs apparently make President Barack Obama comfortable, they’re more his generation, kind of. The President, who hosted the 2014 NBA Championship-winning team from San Antonio on Monday, apparently joked that it made him feel good to see a team with older players winning. “It makes me feel good to see that folks in advancing years can succeed in a young man’s sport,” said Obama. He added: “Let’s face it, just a little while back, people were saying that the Spurs were past their prime, not just old but kind of boring," he said. "Now they’re fresh and exciting, which is basically the exact opposite of what happens to presidents.” Becky Hammon, the Spurs’ assistant coach, and the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history, came in for a special mention, as did the Spurs’ hiring of her. “As somebody who’s got two daughters, one of who is a baller, it makes me feel good when excellence is recognized regardless of gender,” said Obama.

The San Antonio Express-News reports that President Obama will host the 2014 NBA Champions, San Antonio’s beloved Spurs, on Monday, Jan. 12, at the White House. The President, who has kept up a presidential tradition of welcoming champion sports teams to the White House, is known to be a sports’ fan, and an avid basketball aficionado. In a mid-December interview on ESPN Radio’s The Herd With Colin Cowherd, the President even singled out the Spurs as a team to admire for how they interacted with each other, and the community at large. In June last year, the Spurs’ head coach, Gregg Popovich, had received a congratulatory call from the Obama after the Spurs beat the Miami Heat to take the crown. According to a White House press release at the time, the President had called Popovich “one of the nation’s finest coaches and a role model for young men across the country,” and said he was looking forward to hosting the team at the White House. The Spurs, five-time Championship winners, have previously made the trip to the White House, to be feted by former President George W. Bush.