Former United States President Barack Obama's surprise visit to the national men's basketball team ahead of the Paris Olympics went viral after social media users pointed out that his greetings resembled the hilarious Key & Peele Skit. (More Sports News)
The iconic Key & Peele skit from 2014 showcased Jordan Peele, as Obama, greeting a line of onlookers. Peele, playing Obama, formally shook hands with the white fans but delightfully hugged black fans, engaging in various kinds of friendly handshakes with them. The clip is a huge meme material even now.
Obama who took part in the send-off ceremony for the US basketball team seemed to enact the popular skit. The event also celebrated 50 years of USA Basketball.
In the now-viral video, the former president is seen embracing NBA stars Anthony Edwards, Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis and casually shaking their hands.
Obama greeted the players and then walked over to the coaching staff, shaking hands formally and firmly, much like the Obama character did with the non-black viewers in the iconic skit.
Many people on the social media immediately brought up how similar Obama's real clip was to the skit.
Obama also gave a 10-minute speech where he backed the US basketball team to bring a gold from the Paris Olympics and called himself the "Hooper-in-Chief".
'It is true I am the Hooper-in-Chief,' he said to open his address. "I just want to come here to help sent off the soon-to-be gold medal winners. We invented this game and I don't like it when we don't win."
“I’m pretty confident that they’re going to be bringing back the gold and representing us the way we should be represented around the world," Obama said.
USA basketball team begins its Paris Olympics campgain with a group stage game against Serbia on the 28th. They will then face South Sudan on the 31st and Puerto Rico on the 3rd of August.
