Obama: The "One Thing" That Michelle Allows Me To Do Is Watch ESPNPresident Obama boasts to sport analyst that he "knew about Jeremy Lin before you did" and that he has envisioned celebrating a Chicago Bulls championship team "every year" since he's been in the White House.


In an interview with ESPN's Bill Simmons, President Obama talks about how he is able to sneak in watching sports during the day.

"Well, first of all, I don't watch network news or cable news. So in the morning, when I'm working out with Michelle, it's on SportsCenter. This is the one thing that she allows me," Obama told Simmons.

Obama says he is also able to "sneak in" a game while he is reading his briefings.

"I usually have to stay up until midnight or 1 a.m. reading stuff. And every once in a while I'll sneak in a ball game as I'm reading my briefings," he said.

Simmons joked that he "always pictured" Obama watching League Pass on his iPad while he was working. League Pass is a regular season package you buy from your cable provider that provides subscribers with games from outside their local viewing area.

It turns out, though, that Obama does indeed have access to the League Pass.

"I do have League Pass on my iPad," Obama said to a surprised Simmons.

Obama boasted to ESPN's Simmons that he "knew about Jeremy [Lin]" before anyone else did and that he has "been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while."

"And I knew about Jeremy before you did, or everybody else did, because Arne Duncan, my Secretary of Education, was captain of the Harvard team. And so way back when, Arne and I were playing and he said, I'm telling you, we've got this terrific guard named Jeremy Lin at Harvard. And then one of my best friends, his son is a freshman at Harvard, and so when he went for a recruiting trip he saw Lin in action. So I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while," Obama said.

Simmons asked if Obama can take "credit" for "Linsanity," a term for the surge of popularity the talented basketball player has received lately.

"I can't take credit for it, but I'm just saying I was there early," a humble Obama said.

Simmons also asked about Obama's hometown team, the Chicago Bulls. After a long back and forth about the team, Obama said he has envisioned welcoming a world champion Chicago Bulls "every year" since he has been president.

"And it hasn't happened yet, but it will happen," Obama said. "Well, I've got another five years here and somewhere along the line my Bulls are going to come through here."

While reminiscing about teams he has welcomed at the White House, which is nearing a record, Obama revealed that he played a game of HORSE with the Connecticut Huskies, a college team.

In the wide-ranging interview about Obama's interest in sports while executing his duties as president, he gave his opinion about the Lakers making a player trade, explaining how a college football playoff system should work and how he would have solved the NFL lockout. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7znJyJ0dewk

Dat bettah be ESPN...

Yo! Barack!!!!Dat bettah be ESPN...