Pop backs Barack; owners squarely behind Romney

Competition in the NBA is apparently not limited to the court. Various coaches, players, front office members and owners are picking sides in the upcoming presidential race, including Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Popovich is among president Barack Obama’s more generous NBA donors, having pledged $5,000 to his re-election campaign according to via OpenSecrets.org. The other three head coaches on the list — Boston’s Doc Rivers, Atlanta’s Larry Drew and Charlotte’s Mike Conley — are Obama guys as well. Conversely, eight of the 10 ownership members listed have thrown their weight behind Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

Overall, 19 donors have given $53,150 to Obama, while Romney has netted $69,500 from 15 individuals.

Obama worries about locked-out NBA season

We learned that President Barack Obama likes his Roscoe Chicken and Waffles when he travels to Los Angeles. Make his “The Country Boy Special” with extra hot sauce on his wings and syrup on his waffles, please.

And he also is concerned about the direction of the NBA lockout discussions.

During a visit on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” Tuesday night, Obama .” 

The president contrasted the NBA’s lack of a settlement to the NFL, where sides were able to agree without missed games.

“Well, look, if you look at the NFL, they were able to settle theirs — and I think they understood. Players were making millions of dollars,” Obama said. “Owners, some of us are worth billions of dollars. We should be able to figure out how to split a $9 billion pot so that our fans, who are allowing us to make all of this money, can actually have a good season. And I think the owners and the basketball players need to think the same way.” 

As the lockout stretches into nearly five months, Obama is worried about the entire season being lost.

“I’m concerned about it,” he said. “They need to remind themselves that the reason they are so successful is because a whole bunch of folks out there love basketball. Basketball has actually done well, but these types of lockouts a lot of times take a long time to recover from.”

Very wise words indeed from Obama, who met with his close friend, during his trip to California. Hopefully, he emphasized his instincts during their meeting.
 

Here’s NBC’s broadcast of his discussion on the lockout with Leno.