The NFL has been getting most of the love here lately…so it’s time to turn our attention to two underrated items: The NBA and the Presidential Inauguration.  Granted, this is a little bit more of a special inauguration than usual, but I feel that as a country we should make a big deal like this out of every inauguration.  Really, it should always be a holiday.

The main point for me here is that as a suffering Jets, Mets, and U of Maryland fan…I am also a happy Orlando Magic fan (I know that’s random, but as a kid I went to Disney a lot and thought Shaq was the coolest ever.)  I got the latest issue of SI yesterday and the top had a picture of a Obama with a caption that said, “Barack Obama has been playing basketball his entire life…and now he’s the President” (Or something like that, the implication being basketball has led him to where he is.)  So as we are halfway through this NBA season I thought, what if Obama took SI’s thought that basketball leads to political success to heart?  If he made up a cabinet of all NBA players, what would it look like?  Probably something like this:

Secretary of Agriculture (Most Growth Since Last Season): Danny Granger, G-F, Pacers: Everyone knew he was a steal when he was drafted, and he’s become one of the top 5 scorers in the league.  And his last name is GRANGER!

Secretary of Homeland Security: Mike D’Antoni, Head Coach, Knicks: The War on bad, bad basketball is coming to an end in NY thanks to D’Antoni.  He can take care of terror now.

Secretary of Education: Chris Paul, PG, Hornets: He can teach people what a quadruple-double is (something that hadn’t been done since David Robinson in 1994…just not something a PG should be able to do).  He also has never left a teammate behind…or a child.

Attorney General: Dwight Howard, C, Magic:  He is just a man-beast.  Obama is using pieces of Clinton’s cabinet to build his team.  Also a man-beast? Ms. Janet Reno.  It just makes sense.

Secretary of Defense: Lebron James, Everything, Cavs: Howard and Paul could also be up for this post, but the reason Lebron is going to be this year’s MVP is his dramatic rise to one of the best defenders in the league.  Nobody is coming into our house.

Secretary of Labor: Kobe Bryant, SG, Lakers: He’s so good that it doesn’t look like it, but nobody works harder than Kobe.

Secretary of State: Yao Ming, C, Rockets: He’s the best foreign player in the league, and I’d pay good money to see coverage of the first Ming-Putin meeting.

Secretary of Energy: Manu Ginobli, SG, Spurs: The Spurs had a rocky start, but have been one of the best teams in the league since Ginobli’s been back.  When he comes off the bench, he changes the dynamic of that team.

Secretary of the Treasury: Dwayne Wade, SG, Heat: Obama’s guy has continued the hot streak since he was the MVP of Team USA this summer.  He is pure money at a time the country needs it the most.

I don’t think Obama can create a better cabinet than that.  Someday the history books will read, “Obama’s cabinet played basketball their entire lives, and then they took over the world”.  It’s time to make history.

Yes We Can.