--- title: Don Cheadle Has Some Tips for Playing Basketball with Obama description: While on 'Desus & Mero,' Don Cheadle shared some inside information on playing basketball with former President Barack Obama. canonical: https://time.com/5541847/don-cheadle-basketball-obama/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-01T16:07:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:48.048Z og:title: Don Cheadle Has Some Tips for Shooting Hoops with Obama og:description: Actor Don Cheadle has played basketball with Barack Obama — and has some tips og:url: https://time.com/5541847/don-cheadle-basketball-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Don Cheadle Has Some Tips for Shooting Hoops with Obama twitter:description: Actor Don Cheadle has played basketball with Barack Obama — and has some tips twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Don Cheadle Has Some Top Notch Tips on Shooting Hoops with Barack Obama > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 1, 2019 4:07 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 1, 2019 4:07 PM UTC Just in case your next visit to the court puts you up against Barack Obama, [Don Cheadle](http://time.com/5531524/don-cheadle-snl-wardrobe/) has some inside intel on how to shoot some hoops with the [former president](http://time.com/5533330/obama-curry/). Hint: “He’s a leftie, so it’s tricky to get the timing right on the shot,” the actor shared with comedy pair Desus Nice and The Kid Mero in a segment from their evening talk show, [_Desus & Mero_](http://time.com/5324130/most-influential-internet/item/daniel-baker-and-joel-martinez-a-k-a-desus-and-mero/)_._ Cheadle recalled playing a game of basketball against Obama — and being underwhelmed by the weak defense one of his teammates was putting up, because apparently there was some hesitation to truly press the president. “I was like, listen: foul him. Foul him!” Cheadle insisted. Because even when you’re playing against the leader of the free world, all bets are off when you’re on the court in heated competition. Cheadle, who’s been promoting his latest show on Showtime, _Black Monday_, has been making subtle political statements on his publicity circuit of late. [While hosting](http://time.com/5418566/who-is-hosting-snl/) _Saturday Night Live_ in February, he made his feelings about President Donald Trump known by wearing a Soviet Union hockey jersey with Trump’s name on it. Looks like his loyalty still lies with Obama, even if the former president was not the easiest basketball opponent to beat. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5541847/don-cheadle-basketball-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5541847/don-cheadle-basketball-obama/"},"headline":"Don Cheadle Has Some Top Notch Tips on Shooting Hoops with Barack Obama","datePublished":"2019-03-01T16:07:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:48.048Z","description":"\"Foul him. 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