Barack Obama Picks All-Time Starting Five Like He's Gen Z

Everybody who watches basketball has an all-time starting five. Every preschool hooper, to every NBA star, to fools on social media with access to a keyboard. The lists vary from person to person, and each individual's choices reveal how much they know about the game. Are they someone who only watched their era, or are they students of the game who know every player, their stats, and their achievements?

It's no secret that Barack Obama, the country's 44th president, is a huge basketball fan. While many presidents like to spend their free time on the golf course (and he played his fair share of rounds), Obama liked to take time on the White House basketball court to burn calories. ESPN likes to broadcast his March Madness picks, and his all-time NBA starting five was recently unveiled.

Did Barack Obama Start Watching Basketball In 1990?

One look at the former Commander In Chief's starting five, and you'd think he hasn't been watching the game very long. His first pick was Michael Jordan from the Chicago Bulls. A bit of chalk, since Jordan is considered by many to be the GOAT , at the very least, top two. His second pick was another fan favorite, LeBron James, of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Obama mentioned wanting a true point guard to go with his point forward, and so he selected Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry. Kevin Durant and Hakeem Olajuwon rounded out his starting five. There is some merit to the Curry pick. He is frequently compared to and measured against former Lakers great Magic Johnson.

His final two picks feel out of touch for an alleged basketball superfan. Olajuwon is great, and no one would debate that, but the best center of all time? There's a bit of heated debate among fans about whether or not Hakeem was even the best center of his generation. Many pick Shaquille O'Neal. The bigger surprise should be that someone who specializes in pandering didn't pick Nikola Jokic.

A History Lesson For Barack Obama

Everyone has a right to their opinion, and any all-time list is purely subjective. Maybe the former president wasn't familiar with some of the other players throughout history that he snubbed.

Wilt Chamberlain retired over 50 years ago, and he still holds nearly 70 NBA records. These aren't just records he slightly holds. They are things like most career 40/40 games, of which he has 8, and every other player in history (combined) has 0. Records like most 50-point games (118), with second place nowhere in sight (Michael Jordan has 31).

Bill Russell is the Lord of the Rings. The former Celtics great won 11 titles in 13 seasons. The NBA Finals MVP Award is the Bill Russell trophy. Often considered Chamberlain's kryptonite, Russell won two of his championships as a player-coach.

Until recently, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the league's all-time leading scorer. Along with his 38,387 career points, he also was a 19-time all-star, 11-time all-defense, six-time champion, and five-time MVP. He played against Wilt and Hakeem during his illustrious career.

There are too many players to mention who played in the NBA before grunge music, but Obama isn't familiar with them. It's apparent from his starting five that he did not see his first game until the 90's.