Rey Decerega: The Man That Gave Barack Obama 12 Stitches In A Basketball Game
Everyone knows about Barack Obama’s pick-up basketball games, but you may not know about him getting popped in the face with an elbow that resulted in 12 stitches back in 2010.
Decerega, the Director of Programs at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, had the ball and Obama picked him up on defense. Decerega tried to create space with his elbows and caught the 44th President of the United States in the lip.
For The Win caught up with Decerega about the incident:
Decerega was dribbling when Obama picked him up on defense, so he picked up the ball and swung his elbows to create space.
Suddenly, Obama was on the ground, his lip bleeding. So was Decerega’s elbow.
After Obama received 12 stitches, he was photographed holding what appeared to be gauze to his lips and the White House released a statement explaining what happened.
“Basketball is a physical, contact sport,” Decerega said. “It was something I think could have probably happened at any time, especially because he likes to play hard. It just happened that I was the person who unfortunately elbowed him.”
He felt awful. Days later, Decerega — who quickly became famous for being the guy who made Obama bleed — sent an apologetic note to the president. Not long after that, a gift arrived from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
“It was a framed photograph of the sequence of how the elbow happened,” he said. “At that moment, there was an understanding and an appreciation on my part that he understood it was a game that brought forth that elbow and it was two guys competing. I see it as a mark of sportsmanship [and] a tremendous gesture on his part that he was able to share that with me.”
That’s an unbelievable story. This dude gets to tell everyone he ever runs into for the rest of the life that he elbowed the hell out of the President in a pick-up game.
He is a guy that made the President bleed on the baseball court while the man was in office. Incredible.
It’s also incredible that Obama sent over a photo of the sequence just solidifying the fact that Barack is a straight-up baller that respects the game to know end.
Barry O gets it.
