President Obama wants to shoot hoops with Jeremy Lin

By Judy Kurtz - 03/28/12 07:24 PM ET

President Obama will be busy this election year, but he might take time out from the campaign trail to shoot hoops with Jeremy Lin.

Secretary of Education Arne

Duncan, who has often been spotted playing pickup games with the basketball-loving president, tells The Hill’s Emmanuel Touhey the New York Knicks sensation should expect a call pretty soon: “Hopefully the Knicks will make it to the playoffs and they’ll be playing for a while, but if he’s around this summer, we’d like to try to make that happen with those two guys together.”

Duncan, 47, is a former pro player and served as co-captain of the varsity basketball team while at Harvard University. He says he has had “Linsanity” for years — following the 23-year-old NBA phenom and fellow Harvard grad since Lin’s Ivy League days.

“We actually worked out together last year at the all-star game, had a great time, you know, shooting some shots together. I’m just so proud of what he’s accomplished. It’s just absolutely amazing,” Duncan said.

Obama, who has had his staff arrange pickup games with NBA stars, recently boasted he knew of Lin long before Linsanity spread across the county. Obama explained that Duncan told him about the phenom.