Albert talks hoops with Obama on TNT

No, Marv Albert did not challenge President Barack Obama to a game of H-O-R-S-E (or P-O-T-U-S), even after CBS' Clark Kellogg lost to the Lefthander-in-Chief before the Final Four.

"When the request was made, I had to write him a letter to make it official," Albert said. "My last line was, 'I promise I will not challenge you to a game of hoops.' "

Instead, Albert settled for an interview on the White House court that will be shown on TNT Tuesday night before Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference finals.

It was Albert's second interview with a sitting president; he spoke to George H.W. Bush for a baseball pregame show on NBC in 1989.

Albert was impressed with the sports knowledge of that "lefthanded first baseman out of Yale," and again felt that way about the lefthanded former high school basketball player from Hawaii.

"You can always tell a politician who comes in and tries to latch on to that region's teams," Albert said. "No question about it with him; he follows the league so closely.

"He said when the kids and Michelle go to sleep, he puts on games and he'll read while it's on."

Albert said that in the interview, Obama lamented the high price of sports tickets and discussed the future of LeBron James. A Bulls fan, Obama recalled how Michael Jordan did not start winning championships until he had a strong core of complementary players and coach Phil Jackson around him.

"You know, like I said, I don't want to meddle," Obama said in an excerpt released to the media. "I will say this: [Derrick] Rose, Joakim Noah, it's a pretty good core. You know, you could see LeBron fitting in pretty well there."