Obama gets a sharp elbow on hoops court - and 12 stitches

In the basketball presidency, it was bound to happen.

In a Friday morning pickup game, President Obama was accidentally elbowed by one of his fellow players, forcing him to get 12 stitches in his lip, the White House said. Obama received the stitches under local anesthesia in the doctor's office on the ground floor of the White House after he returned home from the game at Fort McNair, a military base where he often plays.

The White House at first did not identify the person who went up for a shot and elbowed Obama, who was playing defense. But later Friday, administration officials released a statement from Rey Decerega, the director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, who injured Obama in the last of five five-on-five games.

"I learned today the president is both a tough competitor and a good sport. I enjoyed playing basketball with him this morning," Decerega said. "I'm sure he'll be back out on the court again soon."

Administration aides did not provide a full list of the president's fellow players, but they said they included Decerega; Reggie Love, Obama's personal assistant and a former forward at Duke University; Education Secretary and former Harvard University player Arne Duncan; and Avery Robinson, Obama's nephew.

It was the first time that it is publicly known that Obama has injured himself in his almost two years in the White House, on or off the court. But the injury was the latest sign of how Obama has brought round ball into the center of presidential recreation, in a break from his two most recent predecessors.

By Perry Bacon Jr.

Washington Post Staff Writer