CHILMARK, Mass. — When President Barack Obama goes on vacation, he plays a lot of golf. And when he plays, he likes to hang out with big-name basketball players.
Five days into his family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, the president has spent four of them hitting the links. While the president rarely plays basketball anymore, he could put together a pretty strong pickup team with his golfing partners if he were so inclined.
In his first outing, Obama joined up with Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the second round, it was Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and in his third and fourth rounds, Obama’s foursome included former all-stars Alonzo Mourning and Ray Allen.
The latter two were playing partners during last year’s vacation as well.
The round with Curry makes good on Obama’s promise of a rematch when the Warriors visited the White House in February to be honored for winning the 2015 NBA championship.
“I heard during this summer, after our golf game, that Steph was using the excuse of Secret Service being intimidating for why he lost the match,” Obama said at the time. “That is not the case. But he will have another opportunity.”
When Obama golfs, a handful of reporters, a camera team and photographers — known as the pool — are nearby, usually kept far enough away so the president doesn’t see them, and vice versa. But the press was allowed to watch Obama on the first hole on the first day.
On Martha’s Vineyard, Obama also has gone out twice for dinner.
The Obama’s have vacationed every year but one on Martha’s Vineyard. They generally keep a low profile,
