EL’s Dribble

Simple article about Barack Obama’s leadership style as derived from his moves on the court… the basketball court.

B-Ball with Barack [TIME Magazine]

My father Fraser Robinson and my basketball coach at Princeton, Hall of Famer Pete Carril, used to say the same thing: “On the court, you can tell who’s a selfish jerk.” And let’s just say they used a less printable word than jerk.

When Michelle started dating Barack Obama, she finally had someone serious enough to bring home to meet the family. As it turned out, he had played basketball in high school and kind of thought he was pretty good. My sister said, “I want you to take him to play, to see what type of guy he is when he’s not around me.” So I invited Barack to play pickup hoops with a few friends of mine in Chicago. Some of these guys played in college, some didn’t, but they were all pretty good players. I like to think I was the first guy to vet him.

I was very nervous because I had already met Barack a few times and liked him a lot. My sister didn’t have many long-term boyfriends. So I was thinking, This guy seems like a pretty good guy; I hope he makes it. I was rooting for him. But here I am with this responsibility: if he turns out to be a, er, jerk, I’ve got to be the one to tell her.

He handled everything perfectly. We played a hard five-on-five, so there were definitely potholes for him to fall into. He wasn’t the best guy out there, but he wasn’t the worst guy. I liked the fact that he was confident but wasn’t cocky or talking trash. Barack was very team-oriented, very unselfish. He fit in like he was one of us — he wasn’t trying to be president of the Harvard Law Review. But the best part about it was that when we were on the same team, he did not pass me the ball every single time. He wasn’t trying to suck up to my sister through me. I thought, You know, I like that. I was relieved to give my sister the good news: “Your boy is straight, and he can ball.”

People always ask me to describe my brother-in-law’s game. Well, he has a very nice outside shot that has gotten better over the years, because as we get older, we can’t go to the basket as easily. He’s very thin, but he’s not weak. You can tell the guy has played. He is extremely left-handed. Most left-handed guys are quicker going to their right. Well, he’s better going to his left. I’ll have to work on that with him.

Basketball is very therapeutic for Barack. He’s always in a great mood before and after he’s played. He looks forward to it. About 40 of us played on Election Day in Chicago, and there was an unspoken nonaggression pact. Not only was everyone afraid of giving Barack a fat lip before a possible victory speech to the entire world, but also, no one there wanted to sprain an ankle or something. We all wanted to participate, pain-free, in whatever might take place later that night. We set up four teams and played a round-robin tournament. Let’s just say Barack fared better on election night than he did in hoops earlier that day.

What does Barack’s game say about the man, about the way he’s going to lead this country through these very trying times? Well, he’s competitive yet inclusive. He’s unselfish, which, where I come from, is the greatest compliment you can give both a player and a leader. And he’s consistent. You’ve got a guy at the top who ran a campaign — and who is going to run a government — in a classy, efficient and considerate manner. That’s the same guy I got to know playing hoops when he was dating my sister.

There’s been a lot of talk about Barack’s building a basketball court somewhere in his new home. I sure hope he does. I’d love to tell people I played hoops in the White House. Plus it would be great, from a national health-care perspective, to see the President working out on a regular basis. People may say, Look, if the President is playing ball three times a week — or however much he ends up playing; I know he’ll be pretty busy — maybe I can go out there and do something for my health too. And how cool would it be to hear about some piece of legislation that was sealed after a pickup game between Democrats and Republicans? That would really make me proud as a ballplayer, a coach and a U.S. citizen. You can tell I’m lobbying for it.

Your ball, Mr. President. I know you’re going to drain the big shots.

Robinson, Obama’s brother-in-law, was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Princeton in the early 1980s. He is now the head men’s basketball coach at Oregon State University

I was in Redding this past week with some CMA guys looking to recruit interns. I wasn’t like other guys looking for someone to fill in a youth, children’s or worship position. I didn’t have a position to fill but willing to see if there are some guys who want to just come along and learn together. I guess that’s probably more in tune with the original concept of “intern”.

We went to the Asian fellowship and since it’s a CMA school, most of the Asian students were Hmong – there are a lot of Hmong CMA churches. I was really encouraged by the fire and passion for Jesus in them. It was good to see students who didn’t want to settle for status quo spirituality. They wanted revival and they wanted it bad… among their people and in the world.

I realized too that I don’t see that same fire among Chinese and Korean-American Christians. There isn’t that desperation that I see in these Hmong students. Granted, our sample size isn’t entirely fair… and most of these students are in Bible college for a reason. But still… the passion is so refreshing to see.

I think they grasp the Gospel more… that it’s really good news to them… I think they do because they come from poor families. Living in poorer neighborhoods, coming from working class families and being a part of the immigrant experience. Second generation Chinese/Korean kids have a little bit of the immigrant experience through their parents, but it’s not the same. They come primarily from middle-income families and don’t need to fight for what you get – and many of our parents do whatever they can to shield them from the hardships. I know, I’m one of them. I have to confess that I had it pretty easy. I’ve had to fight a few battles, but not like these guys.

When Jesus says blessed are the poor… there’s a reason. And you see it come to life among these new friends we made. If the poor are so blessed, why are we as a nation fighting so hard for money?

We also participated in a ministry class entitled, “The Business of Ministry”. Great. Their assignment that day? Lead a board meeting. Wow.  I think there’s nothing more invigorating.

I also got to hang out with this guy named Edmond Yeung. I have to confess that I don’t get along with a lot of Chinese pastors. I’m thoroughly supported by many Chinese pastors, but when it comes to connecting with them, we’re in different worlds. Completely… and frankly, it’s frustrating.

But I got to spend some time with Edmond and I was so encouraged. Why? He wasn’t about the numbers [his church is around 40-50 people]; he wasn’t about the acclaim. He didn’t have an unhealthy ambition that I see in so many pastors – I get it too sometimes and I have to beat the damn dog out of me. He wasn’t dominated with a drive to get more people in his church for the sake of getting more people in his church. He longed for people just to love Jesus. All he wanted to see was people turned on to the Gospel. That’s all. It didn’t matter that they were in his church or not.

And he told stories about his life – how his siblings were brilliant and he was the “dunce” among his siblings. And that God found  a way to use someone who’s terrible at public speaking, not exceptionally bright and with not a whole lot to give. He’s one of these guys… these guys that I so admire… that say stuff like this… “I don’t know how God did it… but he did.” Sorta like the blind man in the Gospels, “I don’t know what happened. All I know is that I was blind, but now I see.”

The man loves Jesus… why? Because he knows he can’t do anything for Jesus and yet he still loves him! And he can’t help but to love him back! He just loves Jesus. I love that… and it’s so encouraging. I can imagine that he’s not super popular among Chinese pastors. Because he’s not the savviest, nor the most charismatic and he definitely doesn’t have the biggest church. But the man loves Jesus. And that seems like it should count the most. It seems. Thanks Edmond for redeeming my historical relationship with Chinese pastors.