Carmelo Anthony On Playing Ball With Obama: "You Can't Foul Him"

After seeing President Barack Obama crack jokes with Anthony Edwards, spotted at All-Star Weekend, and sending Team USA off to the 2024 Olympics, we’re finally getting a chance to see what it’s actually like to ball with him.

On a recent episode of Carmelo Anthony’s 7 PM In Brooklyn podcast, when discussing his recent Edwards link-up, co-host Kaz asks Melo what it’s like actually to suit up against the 44th president, and how it all went down.

“I got the call like, ‘Yo, Obama doing a basketball game, man. He said he need a shooter. Said he want you. You have to be there,'” Melo remembers.

He was joined by LeBron James and older players like Alonzo Mourning, but the issue came when playing defense, and you realize you can’t play bully ball.

“You can guard him, but you just can’t touch him,” Melo said, adding that there were “no hard fouls” allowed. 

He recalls that a lot of the NBA players wondered, “That’s the president. Do we foul him? Do we iso him? Do we put him in a pick-and-roll?”

Melo admits that the “competitive spirit kicks in,” and that a couple of members of his cabinet participated too, so they all broke bread with him afterwards.

“We went to the White House lawn and had a cookout. Okay. I don’t want to say ‘a barbecue.’ We had a cookout. But it was a beautiful experience.”

Melo even joked about the surreal moment, adding that fried chicken and watermelon were available, and even raved about the potato salad.

Melo broke down the dynamic a bit more, playing with him and how shoulder-checking isn’t really an option.

“Snipers and sh-t in there,” Melo jokes. You got motherf-ckers dressed up as janitors and sh-t. They got hammers on them. They mopping the floor with an AK behind their back. Hell no. You better not foul like that.”

See Melo’s breakdown of what it’s like to play pickup basketball with a president below.