The nation's No. 1 basketball fan headed to the United Center to watch his favorite team, the Bulls, and one of his favorite players, Cleveland's LeBron James.
A tieless Obama arrived on the court for the start of the second quarter, shaking hands with spectators in the front row and waving to others out of his reach. He removed his suit jacket as he took a seat next to longtime pal Marty Nesbitt, a businessman and chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation, which is planning for Obama's future presidential library.
Obama gave a brief interview to TNT, thanking the NBA for supporting his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative to help boys and young men of color.
"It's a program to make sure that all of us are supporting disadvantaged youth and particularly disadvantaged boys," he said. "The NBA stepped up, every team in the league is sponsoring mentorship programs." He noted that his wife, Michelle, appeared with James in Akron, Ohio, last week to promote his college scholarship program.
"That kind of character that we see in the NBA is really making a difference," Obama said.
Obama also addressed a $33,400-per-ticket Senate Democratic fundraiser that was closed to media coverage. He was spending the night at his home in Chicago before returning to the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
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