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dential the way he communicated . So I got back in my self and we continued to play , but what struck me as I think back on the incident is his demeanor and his spirit just calmed me . I calmed down and remembered that I didn ' t need to be going hard out there anyway . All in all he locked me down that day . In analyzing his game I would say he had a pretty good jump shot and he was a competitor . I didn ' t connect that incident to being him until he was running his first campaign in 2008 . DV and Melo D called me from Atlanta all loud saying " you remember Obama - you remember we were going to move on him ". I was like " nawwww ". They said " that was the guy that used to come play with us in the yellow cut off sleeve shirt at Shoe Smith . He was locking you down on defense ." So once I saw him shoot that lefty jumper , in a clip , on the campaign trail the light bulb went off . I knew that was him . I remembered and told my guys . Back then he was just another ball player at the park . He used to smoke cigarettes with the guys after the game and sip a little Gills beer . That ' s him . Later I would read " The Audacity of Hope " and connect the Volvo he talks about to the one he would drive up to the park . Sometimes he ' d even make the beer runs .
Derek " DV " Van
I really just remember President Obama from the 1984-85 Hyde Park runs that would be at some of the best hoop spots in the Hyde Park area . I played with him at University of Chicago and Shoesmith Park . Hyde Park was the place to hoop back then because we had about 4 good hoop courts to get games . The runs at Shoe Smith on Sunday ' s were very competitive . If you didn ' t get there early or have serious game your ran the risk of either not getting game or if you lost not getting back up for couple of hours . Barack was a competitor . He ' d come out every Sunday wearing the same outfit . Gold t-shirt and some maroon shorts . Arne Duncan , who a lot of us grew up with started bringing him to the runs . Obama wasn ' t the most skilled player out there - we had legends up at that park - they pretty much controlled the courts . Guys like David Howl ( Tim Hardaway ' s cousin ) and other older guys that we looked up to . It was a serious run . Barack was a hustler type , smart player who wasn ' t going to hurt his team with a lot of mistakes . It was a great feeling to see the President of the United States take the game we love and cherish to the highest heights in Washington , DC . I was proud to watch him shoot that lefty jumper and know that one of our very own was the most powerful man in the world .
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