Barack Obama jokes with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (full ceremony video)

Presidential Medal Freedom Award ceremony

US president Barack Obama hosted the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Nov. 22 at the White House, awarding the country’s highest civilian honour to luminaries of business, sports, entertainment, activism, and art. Recipients included Bill and Melinda Gates, Tom Hanks, Ellen Degeneres, Robert DeNiro, Frank Gehry, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, and Maya Lin.
But for Obama, a well-documented basketball fan, it could’ve been the attendance of Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who got him the most excited.
The president, standing respectably tall at 6’1”, was still no match for the NBA legend Abdul-Jabbar, who at 7’2” had to bend backwards, making for an awkward reverse bear hug as Obama awarded him his medal.

source: qz,com