The thing about being a high-profile public servant who tries to pretend to be normal and do things like ride the subway is that sometimes your constituents will talk you into doing crazy things. This exact thing happened to Bill de Blasio yesterday when he instead of just settling for a selfie on the J train with Mayor Tall, Alvin Javier got de Blasio to agree to challenge Obama to a game of one-on-one, which was then blown up by New York Magazine. De Blasio better pray to whatever Basketball Gods are out there that Obama doesn’t actually move here and take him up on that challenge, because it would just be embarrassing for everyone.
We mean, it doesn’t even matter that, as de Blasio points out, him and Obama are about the same age and that he has the height advantage on the president. Obama’s not even very good at basketball, but he plays all the damn time against people who actually know how to play, which at least keeps him sharp. Plus, despite being 6’5″, Mayor Tall is kind of gangly and awkward and apparently is also bad at basketball. What did all that height do for Shawn Bradley or Michael Olowokandi? Or poor Frederic Weis, for that matter?
No, if Obama comes to town to answer the challenge, you put your money on the guy who can hit a three-pointer completely cold while wearing Dockers.