LAS VEGAS – With the U.S. men’s national basketball team behind him, the former President Barack Obama gave a 10-minute speech about the importance of representing the United States.
At USA Basketball’s 50th anniversary party on Tuesday night, Obama, whose presence came as a surprise to most in attendance, opened his message by telling the audience that there is no bigger basketball fan in the world than he is.
He spoke about the importance of uniting the country and showing the world what America can do best.
“I’m pretty confident they’re going to bring back the gold and represent us the way we should be represented around the world,” Obama said.
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Several Basketball Hall of Famers, Olympians and USA Basketball luminaries were in attendance, including Spencer Haywood, Cheryl Miller, Dawn Staley, Sheryl Swoopes, Reggie Miller, Steve Smith, Tim Hardaway, Doug Collins, Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo .
“I just want to come here to obviously help send off the future gold medal winners,” Obama said. “But I want to stop by and thank the legends who have represented USA Basketball and America for 50 years.”
Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris briefly visited the U.S. men’s team at practice on the UNLV campus.
Team USA opens its five-game preparation for the Paris Olympics on Wednesday against Canada (10:30 p.m. ET, FS1).
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
This article originally appeared in USA TODAY: Former President Barack Obama surprises at basketball party in the USA
