Obama Shoots Hoops with Clooney, Maguire
RENO, Nev. - After a night of hobnobbing with Hollywood's rich and famous, President Obama hit the basketball court this morning for a friendly face-off with actors George Clooney and Tobey Maguire and members of the White House staff, officials said.
The game took place inside the Cheviot Hills Recreation Center at the Rancho Park Golf Course in Los Angeles just miles from the Beverly Hilton where Obama spent the night. Cameras were not allowed inside.
"Who won the game?" shouted CBS' Mark Knoller as the president shook hands with supporters along a ropeline at his next stop, Reno, Nev.
Obama momentarily recoiled, asking "What basketball game? What are you talking about?"
Then the president recalled with a smile, "As you might, expect George and I won, but I think we are all winners because nobody got hurt." (In a November 2010 game of hoops, the president required 12 stitches on his lip after being struck by a wayward elbow.)
Clooney on Thursday evening hosted a multi-million-dollar campaign fundraiser for Obama on the basketball court at his sprawling Studio City, Calif., home.
Obama joked in his remarks that the two men have a history of talking tough about who's the better shot on the court.
"This guy has been talking smack about his basketball game ever since I've known him," Obama told an elite crowd of 150 donors, who each paid $40,000 to attend.