Obama to honor NBA champ Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers will be honored at the White House at 11:15 (Pacific time) today for winning last season's NBA championship.

The team, coach Phil Jackson and Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson, will be joined by President Barack Obama for the ceremony in the Palm Room, according to White House officials and team spokesman John Black.

The team's White House visit is expected to last about an hour. It will come one day before the Lakers face the Washington Wizards in the fourth game of an eight-game, 12-day road trip.

The visit will be the Lakers' first at the White House since January 2002, their only visit during their three-peat tenure.

"Regardless of who's in office and what your political affiliations are, it's still an honor to meet the person running the country and it's something I'm definitely looking forward to," Laker guard Derek Fisher told reporters last week.

Often unconventional Laker forward Ron Artest, who was not a member of last season's championship team, had a different view about meeting Obama.

"I'm not that excited to meet him because I look at him as a regular person," Artest said. "That's how he comes across on TV. He doesn't come across as somebody that can't be touched, that's not going to be warm and welcoming."

Obama called Jackson in June to congratulate him on winning his record- setting 10th championship as a head coach. They also discussed the keys to the Lakers' success and Obama's interest in the Lakers' triangle offense, according to the White House.

Obama, who played on Hawaii's high school state championship team in 1979 and still plays basketball with cabinet members, other government officials and friends, told Jackson he has admired him since he coached the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.

Jackson donated $2,300 to Obama's primary campaign in 2007, the maximum amount allowable under federal law, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant fan, Tony Sedastian of Hicksville, N.Y., shows his support prior to a New York Knicks against the Lakers NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 22, 2010, in New York.

Obama had predicted that the Lakers would defeat the Orlando Magic in six games in last season's best-of-seven NBA finals, one more game than they actually needed.


相關(guān)中文報(bào)道：

《美聯(lián)社》消息，美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬于今天在白宮接見湖人，并且表彰了他們在籃球場上所取得的成就，以及為社會做出的貢獻(xiàn)。

事實(shí)上奧巴馬自己就是一名相當(dāng)狂熱的籃球迷，在真正看到這支籃球場上的衛(wèi)冕冠軍時(shí)，奧巴馬相當(dāng)興奮。上賽季的湖人在聯(lián)盟當(dāng)中所向披靡，他們在總決賽里擊敗魔術(shù)奪冠，這也是他們隊(duì)史上第15次奪冠經(jīng)歷。

奧巴馬表示，他在看到湖人主教練菲爾-杰克遜的時(shí)候相當(dāng)激動，畢竟“禪師”手里擁有10枚總冠軍戒指，是NBA歷史上最偉大的主教練之一。奧巴馬的家鄉(xiāng)就在芝加哥，是90年代公牛王朝的鐵桿球迷。不過“禪師”在進(jìn)入白宮之后見到奧巴馬，并沒有將他在公牛時(shí)代所獲得的6枚總冠軍戒指亮出來給總統(tǒng)看。

“你還能記得當(dāng)初的日子?！眾W巴馬總統(tǒng)提到了前湖人超級球星“魔術(shù)師”約翰遜，因?yàn)?991 年總決賽上正是公牛擊敗了“魔術(shù)師”帶領(lǐng)的湖人，才開始奪冠的。奧巴馬在接見湖人的時(shí)候，不只是表揚(yáng)了他們在體育界上的成就，同時(shí)也提到了他們在籃球場外所作出的工作。就在美國時(shí)間周一的當(dāng)天，湖人的球員們便在華盛頓地區(qū)的學(xué)校創(chuàng)辦了一家醫(yī)院，并且有不少人為海地地震進(jìn)行了捐款。

最后湖人還給奧巴馬贈送球衣作為紀(jì)念品，在一件黃色的湖人隊(duì)服背后印下奧巴馬的名字，以此來表達(dá)他們也將總統(tǒng)當(dāng)成自己隊(duì)內(nèi)的一員。