President Barack Obama is on a weeklong trip to Africa, his first visit since taking office. On Sunday, Obama visited the jail cell where former South African president Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison protesting apartheid policies in the country.
By Monday morning, Obama had arrived in Tanzania to a “sea of ecstatic” locals, according to The New York Times. Beyond his diplomatic mission to the country, Obama took some time to make a little joke about basketball, too.
“We did not discuss Hasheem Thabeet, but maybe we will next time,” Obama said, according to Politico’s Reid Epstein.
Thabeet was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and famously didn’t begin playing basketball until the age of 15. After a successful career at the University of Connecticut — the tallest player ever for the Huskies — Thabeet was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, and he is currently with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Photo via Twitter/@millardayo
