Michelle Obama opened up about a major medical procedure husband Barack Obama underwent during his presidency, revealing the then Commander-in-Chief suffered an embarrassing injury in the White House.
The former First Lady revealed the anecdote on her most recent podcast episode with her brother, titled IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, as she joked that Barack’s injury was an ‘I told you so’ moment for her.
‘I made Barack put his basketball shoes up once he got his lip busted when he was in the White House playing a pickup game,’ she recalled of the incident from 2010.
‘I don’t think many people realize this because he was definitely in shape, athletic.’
Michelle said her brother Craig – who was drafted into the NBA in 1993 by the Philadelphia 76ers but never played a game – was also playing in that White House game, and said she was with a doctor when she heard there had ‘been an accident.’
‘I’m like, ‘Ugh,’ because I’m always like, ‘Be careful playing basketball. You shouldn’t be playing now. You now have a real important job,’ Michelle continued.
‘And literally, he’s coming in with a gauze thing on his lip… he needed like 30-something stitches.’
The White House said at the time that the president was accidentally hit in the mouth by Rey Decerega, an official with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, who said after that Obama ‘is both a tough competitor and a good sport.’
Michelle Obama revealed her president husband once received dozens of stitches to his face after suffering an embarrassing basketball injury in the White House on her most recent podcast episode with her brother, titled IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson
Obama received dozens of small stitches to his lower lip after being hit in the face during a game of pickup basketball in the White House, in what Michelle described as an ‘I told you so’ moment for her
Michelle recalled that Barack’s injury came at an inconvenient moment for the White House before a ‘major speech’.
The speech was made in Washington after Obama held a bipartisan Congressional leadership meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office, and he was seen in images with a large bruise and cut on his lower lip.
‘He had some major speech on Monday, and I was, like, ‘This is what I’m saying. You know, you’re playing like you’re 10 and now your lip is split,’ Michelle said.
At the time, the White House said the president was given local anesthetic for the procedure, and images circulated showing Barack holding an ice pack to his face from a White House window.
Decerega said in a statement after it was revealed that he was the player who hit the president that he ‘enjoyed playing basketball with him this morning’, adding: ‘I’m sure he’ll be back out on the court again soon.’
Michelle revealed the anecdote amid unfounded divorce rumors between her and Barack, with the former first couple putting on a show of units in the face of the gossip this week as they stepped out on a romantic date night.
Michelle recalled that Barack’s injury in 2010 came at an inconvenient moment for the White House as it came on a Saturday before a ‘major speech’ the next Monday
The President was seen in images with a large bruise and cut on his lower lip days after the basketball injury
At the time, the White House said the president was given local anesthetic for the procedure, and images circulated showing Barack holding an ice pack to his face from a White House window
The White House said at the time that the president was accidentally hit in the mouth by Rey Decerega (pictured), an official with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, who said after that Obama ‘is both a tough competitor and a good sport’
The anecdote came up as the podcast touched upon Robinson’s love for basketball, with the former Princeton University standout once famously playing a game of pickup basketball against Barack in the 1990s as a favor to his sister.
Michelle said at the time that she wanted her brother to play against Barack to judge his character when they first started dating.
Michelle joked on her podcast that it would be ‘time to use a different measure now’ at her husband’s age.
Robinson became well known during the 2008 presidential election for this role as it became a regular anecdote on the campaign trail, and on Wednesday’s episode he said it rang true because ‘people let their guard down’ during a game.
He said the two became fast friends because of the way Barack played, telling Esquire: ‘He was quietly confident, which means he had good self-esteem without being cocky.
‘He was certainly a team player — he wasn’t a pig, he passed when he was supposed to pass, and he cut when he was supposed to cut. To me, that speaks to a lack of selfishness.
‘He had natural leadership ability, because he didn’t just pass me the ball because he was dating my sister. Whenever a player gets tired, he reverts back to the player he truly is. That’s how you tell. And we played for hours. That’s how I could tell.’
Michelle told her brother Craig Robinson (right) that she often worried about Barack playing basketball, and recalled telling him: ‘Be careful playing basketball. You shouldn’t be playing now. You now have a real important job’
Robinson was a standout forward for Princeton University, becoming a two-time Ivy League player of the year. Although he was drafted into the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983, he never played a game
Robinson famously played a game of basketball against Barack Obama when he first started dating Michelle so he could judge the future president’s character
The rumors of a rift between Barack and Michelle were ignited when she decided not to attend President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in January, before also skipping President Trump’s inauguration – both events Barack showed face for.
Barack recently also revealed he was in a ‘deep deficit’ with his wife and has been trying to ‘dig his way out by doing fun things.’
The former first lady addressed the speculation during a recent interview with actress Sophia Bush for an episode of her podcast Work in Progress.
‘That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people,’ she said.
‘So much so that this year people were, you know, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.
‘That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?’
Her 61st birthday was three days before the inauguration.
