President Obama honored the NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs, at the White House Monday, but joked that he almost sent in the second team, Vice President Biden, to host the event to keep himself “fresh for the State of the Union.” The president said he would have been just following Spur’s coach Gregg “Pop” Popovich’s example, but in the end decided he’d rather meet the team:
THE PRESIDENT: Well, hello, everybody! (Applause.) Welcome to the White House. Everybody please have a seat. In case you didn’t know, these are the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs. (Applause.) I was considering having the Vice President cover these remarks so I could stay fresh for the State of the Union. (Laughter.) Taking an example off Pop who sits his stars sometimes — (laughter) — but I decided I actually wanted to meet them.
When it came time for Popovich to speak, he didn’t let President Obama get away with his joke:
What I want to remind the President about, if I might, with all due respect — when I sit stars, I get fined. He doesn’t. (Laughter.)
It was not clear from the vice president’s schedule whether he attended the event or not, but at least one other member of the president’s team was present: Julian Castro, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the former mayor of San Antonio.
