VIDEO: Campaign celebrity Obama a cracker of a star on the basketball court too

Gulf Today Report

Former US President Barack Obama has shown that apart from politics and brilliant oratory, he is also a cracker of a star on the basketball court. On the US campaign trail on Saturday at a high school gym in Flint, Michigan, Obama was passed a basketball as he left the room.

The ex-president dribbled, then sank the 3-pointer from a corner of the court before casually resuming his exit and telling the campaign entourage confidently that "that's what I do."

A three-point field goal is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket.

Obama regularly played basketball before he gained political prominence.

It was a remarkable feat, which triggered comments from none other than basketball legend LeBron James, recently named Most Valuable Player of the 2020 NBA Finals.

"Now you just showing out now my friend!!" James tweeted. "That's what you do huh?? Ok ok I see. All cash!"

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Video of the shot – posted on Twitter by both Obama and Biden's travelling digital director Olivia Raisner – quickly went viral, gaining hundreds of thousands of likes.

Shooting hoops on election day is a tradition for Obama, even when his name is not on the ballot.

The habit is reportedly part superstition for the ex-president who skipped the court during voting in the New Hampshire Democratic primary in 2008 and lost the race to then-Senator Hillary Clinton.

Biden, who was Obama's vice president, made his first joint appearance of the campaign with his former boss in Flint, scrambling to boost turnout ahead of Tuesday's election against Republican incumbent President Donald Trump who is trailing in the polls.