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Before Team USA’s men’s basketball team headed to France to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics, President Barack Obama gave Team USA words of wisdom after winning gold. However, beforehand, some accused him of reprising a memorable skit from Comedy Central’s sketch-comedy “Key & Peele,” albeit deliberately or not, Obama’s memorable handshake to every one of Team USA’s players, including Indiana Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, went viral.
In an interview with Haliburton on “The Young Man and the Three” podcast, Obama talked about how the viral moment unfolded.
“I got to say that was funny, but here’s what happened. So I’m going down the row right, a lot of those guys I knew, and then right before I got to Coach Few, it’s Steph, it’s LeBron, I’ve been knowing those guys forever. You know I’ve had dinner with them and their families,” Obama said. “So then, Coach Few, I’ve never met, and he put out his hand, and so I’m like, all right, I don’t know, is he going to be comfortable if I pull him into a, you know, bro hug? I don’t know. So I just shook his hand.
“Kerr was right afterward, and Steve, I knew. But the way it played out, I will say it looked just like that Key and Peele skit,” Obama concluded.
Barack Obama addresses Key & Peele’s ‘Luther’ skit
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While Barack Obama claims the different handshakes weren’t conscious decisions, he admitted to Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton on the podcast that the video of the exchanges was an example of life imitating art. Also, during his presidency, Obama said Key & Peele’s ‘Luther’ skit was a hit at the White House.
“When they ran it side by side. I had to say, all right, ya’ll caught me on that one,” Obama added. “Key and Peele probably did as many funny things around my presidency because they came up around the same time. And Peele does a pretty good Obama. He exaggerates it, but he kind of has the voice. The first time he did Luther, the translator. I’m being all serious. Luther comes up behind me; that rang a chord in the White House because everyone knew that was pretty accurate.”
The popular sketch-comedy show was a smash hit, launched in 2012, during the 44th U.S. President’s second term (2012-16) in office. Obama congratulated Team USA for its emphatic 98-87 victory against France in the gold medal game.
