Obama pities Cleveland, was rooting for Cavaliers over Magic

President Barack Obama, a Chicago Bulls fan, was rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Eastern Conference finals series. It had nothing to do with being a LeBron James fan. It had nothing to do with those Kobe-LeBron puppet commercials. Obama just felt bad for the city of Cleveland, according to Nevada Senator Harry Reid.

Las Vegas Review-Journal gossip columnist Norm Clarke writes that when Obama visited Nevada in May, he and Reid were watching the end of game four of the series. They had to stop watching with about 40 seconds left to hit the stage, where Reid was to introduce Obama. Clarke writes:

"They were like a couple buddies watching a great game," said Jon Summers, Reid's communications director.

Reid disclosed that Obama, a passionate basketball fan, was pulling for the Cavs "because Cleveland has had such bad luck, with the auto industry and all. He wanted them to win something for a change," Reid said.

Reid returned to the stage after the president's address and delivered the news: Orlando won 116-114 in overtime for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Obama is now predicting the Lakers in six. The Los Angeles Times reports:

If you're scoring at home, Obama has a perfect 2-0 record in presidentially prognosticating major sporting events. He picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl and North Carolina to win the NCAA basketball tournament. Then again, the Celtics were a perfect 32-0 when leading a playoff series 3-2 -- until the Magic took care of their unblemished record.