WASHINGTON—Tuesday morning's ceremony at the White House featured President Barack Obama entirely in his element: making jokes about basketball. Obama welcomed the Blue Devils to the East Room to celebrate Duke's fifth national championship, but that did not make the honored guests immune from friendly jabs.
As the president soon found out, some good-natured ribbing was about to come his way as well.
Here are some of the ceremony's funniest sound bytes.
President Barack Obama
On Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski:
I’d like to recognize the Chairman of Duke’s Board of Trustees, David Rubenstein, who’s here. Duke President Richard Brodhead is here. Athletic Director Kevin White is here. And an up-and-coming coach named Mike Krzyzewski.
On similarities between himself and the Blue Devils:
I can relate to this program. Does well in the classroom. Won twice in the past four years. Know what it’s like for people to oppose you no matter what you try to do. When I flip on ESPN and I see a documentary about how people still “hate” Christian Laettner—a guy who played for Duke 23 years ago, I realize, well, maybe I don’t have it so bad. Or I think this is going to be a long 23 years.
On watching Duke play:
If folks didn’t like this year’s Blue Devils, they were just being haters—or they lived in Chapel Hill. That’s a possibility as well. Because these guys were fun.
On Duke's freshmen:
They had a soft-spoken all American in the middle, Jahlil Okafor—from the Chicago area, I might just add—whose size and footwork bent defenses in a way that people hadn’t seen in a very long time. There was the Final Four’s Most Outstanding player, Tyus Jones—or “Tyus Stones”—because of all the shots he made. There was Justise Winslow flying all over the place dominating some of the games in the tournament. Quinn Cook provided senior leadership, setting a school all-time assist-to-turnover record. And then there was Grayson Allen, who just went crazy.
On the Blue Devil defense:
The Blue Devils shut down the most efficient offense in the country when they needed to. And that lockdown defense—which, let’s face it, had not been evident in every game during the season—was the key to Duke’s fifth title run.
On Krzyzewski reaching 1,000 wins:
Last season, Coach K became the first Division I men’s college coach to win 1,000 games. And somehow he did it without ever saying a bad word to a referee.
Krzyzewski: That’s true. That’s true. Only what they deserved.
Obama: .... That’s what I say about some of my opponents.
On center Marshall Plumlee:
I was saying to Marshall, though, I feel bad for his parents trying to pay those grocery bills. When you’ve got, like, three folks seven feet, you know they’re eating a lot. That’s a big grocery bill.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski
On Duke's second visit to Obama at the White House:
"Mr. President, thanks for opening up your home. We’ve been to your house twice, and you’ve never been to our house."
On Obama's tournament picks:
"Any time you take a test and you put your answers there, you should always want the approved solution."
On Obama's use of humor:
"The guys already ultimately respect you, but seeing you perform here, once your term is over, “Saturday Night Live” should have a permanent host, I think."
Obama: "Comedian-in-Chief, I could do a good job."
On inviting the president to Durham for his fantasy camp:
"He already was bragging a little bit about how good he was. My three assistant coaches each coach one of the teams [at the fantasy camp], so they all said that they would draft him No. 1. I think they’re all craving attention, but that would be a cool thing. We’ll see what happens."
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