Basketball Facts

Barack Obama was nicknamed "Barry O'Bomber" by some teammates at Punahou High School for his enthusiastic jump shot, though he spent most of his senior championship season on the bench

Michael Jordan wasn't actually cut from his high school basketball team - as a 5'10" sophomore, he was placed on the junior varsity squad instead of varsity, which was standard practice. He used the perceived slight as motivation and made varsity the following year.

Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain never fouled out of a game.

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II was named an "Honorary Harlem Globetrotter."!

Chinese sports authorities reportedly arranged the marriage between Yao Ming's parents—Yao Zhiyuan (6'7") and Fang Fengdi (6'3"), both elite basketball players—as part of a state-sponsored athletic breeding program. Their son became the 7'6" NBA superstar.

There is a basketball court on the top floor of the U.S. Supreme Court Building. It’s known as the “highest court in the land.”