'GQ' Details Oral History of Barack Obama Playing Pickup Basketball

President Barack Obama will leave the White House with a long-lasting legacy. Although it's far from his most notable achievement, the 44th president will go down as the best baller of them all. 

After his 2009 inauguration, Obama had a basketball court constructed outside his new home. In 2015, the Chicago Bulls fan discussed his dream of owning an NBA team in a GQ interview with Bill Simmons.

"I have fantasized about being able to put together a team and how much fun that would be," Obama said. "I think it'd be terrific."

On Obama's final day as commander in chief, GQ honored his love of hoops with an oral history of his pickup basketball career.

He earned the respect of two-time NBA champion Shane Battier, who connected his on-court composure to his political success:

"

There's a code when you're shooting around with a bunch of guys, getting ready for a game. They talk a little differently, they walk a little differently. Especially at the NBA level. I don't know how to explain it, but that's what I was most impressed with about the President. He fit right in. I think that's maybe one of the most defining attributes of his eight years. He could talk to really any group. He could make you feel like he was one of you.

"

While teaming with Obama, the retired forward let him take the game-winning jumper on a clear-out. The favoritism to power paid off, as he "took two dribbles, got to the elbow, raised up and knocked it down."

"I wouldn't say it was MJ-esque," Battier said, "but I'm sure in his mind it was MJ-esque."

Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul also gave the president props, recalling a time Obama got his number:

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I was shocked at how good he was. Nice lefty jump shot. But he got lucky one time on the break. I sort of jumped out, made him guess which way to go and he made the right play, crossed over, made it look like he crossed me up. It'll never happen again. Hopefully now that he's out of office we'll have some time to see if it was real.

"

Can an NBA player really go full throttle against the president? If there's anyone who wouldn't have cared about the lurking Secret Service, it would have been Kobe Bryant. As relayed by former senior adviser David Axelrod, the Black Mamba criticized Paul for taking it easy on Obama:

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Kobe Bryant was not playing because he was recovering from an injury. But he sat on the sidelines. The President was sort of having his way, and they were letting him doing it. And Kobe called over Chris Paul and said, "[You're the] meanest little motherf----r in the league, and you won't get within ten feet of this guy."

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In 2010, Rey Decerega experienced every opponent's worst fear. The director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute inadvertently elbowed Obama in the lip while driving to the basket. Obama needed 12 stitches.

And no, Decerega didn't get the foul call:

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It was like a car accident—you know something really bad happened, everything is going in slow motion, and you're trying as hard as you can to make sense of the situation. Secret Service didn't tackle me or anything, but as they hustled the president out, one agent gave me a "Do you know what you just did?" look. Yeah, I knew.

"

Per John Rogers, co-chair of Obama's Inauguration Committee, the leader of the United States didn't mind the physical play.

"We saw the President the next day, and he was proudly showing pictures of the moment he was getting hit. He was proud of how rough-and-tumble the game had been. One more little story to share with his basketball buddies."

[GQ]