Photo by zachstern.

Sure, the Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls on Friday night 113-90 (only to follow it up with a stinker last night in Milwaukee), but this post is less about a twenty-three point victory by a 14-45 team over another sub-.500 team, and more about President Obama, who made the trek over from the White House to catch some Friday night hoops.

Obama even — gasp! — paid for his own beer and repeatedly chatted up a five-year-old Wizards fan, Nick Aiello, who probably wasn’t expecting to have the Prez as his courtside seat buddy. (Alright, I admit, I kind of hate that kid right now — courtside seats and the chance to chat with Obama all evening? Nick, you lucky scamp, you.)

After the last few years — time in which it could be asked whether George W. Bush knew the cross streets or even the neighborhood where the Verizon Center is located — it was refreshing to see our city’s most famous resident doing, well, something that most Washingtonians have done from time to time. Of course, though, there’s no escaping the man’s status: the start of the game had to be delayed for a few minutes so that Obama could make it in time for the tipoff. Similarly, when Obama’s busy trying to save the economy, it’s tough to give him too much grief for leaving a twenty-point game before the final buzzer.

As far as the players go, Wizards forward Caron Butler seemed to be enjoying himself the most: he often exchanged eye contact and pointed fist bumps in Obama’s direction. He also had the quote of the evening:

“I was truly nervous for the first time in my career just to have the president over there,” Butler said. Then he paused a bit, before adding: “And I’m glad we got the ‘W.'”

Well played wordplay, good sir.

Before the game, we had a feeling that Obama’s presence would help the Wizards sell some tickets, and the Phone Booth’s 18,114 figure is not too shabby, considering the Wizards’ record. (Although any real measure of an Obama-effect on attendance will need data from a Tuesday/Wednesday night game featuring an even worse team than the Bulls.) In a financial age in which most NBA teams are in some serious financial trouble, we’re sure the Wizards wouldn’t mind Obama becoming a more common guest — winning Friday probably helped that cause.

Stimulating ticket sales for very poor basketball teams? Yes he can.