We suggest you peep Darnell Mayberry’s entire story (it’s dope), but here’s the skinny: “This is a story Kevin Durant would prefer you didn’t know. But you need to know it to know Durant. Three months ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s star didn’t receive an invitation to perhaps the most secluded and star-studded pickup game ever played. It went down Sunday, Aug. 8. The guest list included numerous NBA greats. Household names like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. The host was President Barack Obama… What you don’t know is that Durant received his invitation — an exclusive invitation — later that month. And on Sept. 18, Durant shot hoops with the president. ‘We just played pickup,’ Durant said. ‘It wasn’t anything formal.’ But for Durant, a D.C. native, it was an introduction that held special meaning. ‘It was a good feeling to meet the president,’ Durant said. ‘Of course I always wanted to do that. Me being from D.C., it was pretty cool to see him. I was excited to get that opportunity. It’s something I’m always going to remember.’ … He called up teammates Eric Maynor and James Harden. Both had traveled to D.C. to celebrate Durant’s birthday, which is Sept 29th but needed to be enjoyed earlier because of the start of the NBA season. Durant surprised Maynor and Harden with the news that they would be playing hoops with the president. ‘It was weird because when he called me he just was like, ‘Yo, what’s your social security number?” Maynor remembered. ‘I was like, ‘Man, what you need my social for?’ And he said, ‘We’re going to the White House tomorrow.” Durant and Maynor teamed up with Obama. Harden was matched up against the president, with other White House staffers filling out the teams. They played four or five games of full court five-on-five, according to Maynor, and each team won their share.”
(H/T @StackMack)
