Former President Barack Obama, the fifth-greatest living commander in chief, has developed a habit of inflicting pain and humiliation upon the athletes whose games he decides to attend.
In February, for example, Duke star forward Zion Williamson, the projected number-one pick in next year's NBA draft, suffered a freak injury after his shoe exploded mere seconds into a marquee matchup against the University of North Carolina. This happened on Obama's watch. Duke proceeded to lose a pivotal home game against their biggest rival.
ANOTHER OBAMA SCANDAL: Duke Star Zion Williamson Suffers Freak Injury As Former POTUS Looks On
Tiger Woods is another example. The golf legend, who won precisely zero major tournaments during Obama's two terms in office, finally ended his "Obama Drought" and returned to glory by winning the 2019 Masters at Augusta National.
The Obama sports curse struck again Sunday night in Toronto, where the former president was in attendance for Game 2 of the NBA finals between the hometown Raptors and the Golden State Warriors.
Barack Obama gets a standing ovation at Game 2 of the NBA Finals in Toronto.
Via blogTO pic.twitter.com/Dqqf3P1rYW— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 3, 2019
Disaster struck mere minutes into the opening quarter, when Warriors starting center Kevon Looney suffered an upper-body injury following a nasty collision with Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard, who led his team to a five-point lead at the half as Obama looked on.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderSports/status/1135394192220467200
Looney would miss the entire second half of the game, and would eventually be joined on the injury report by Warriors star shooting guard Klay Thompson, who injured his hamstring on an awkward landing following a three-point attempt early in the fourth quarter as Obama looked on.
Klay Thompson limped off the floor and into the locker room with an apparent leg injury after landing awkwardly on a shot attempt. pic.twitter.com/SNT3dEe5U9
— ESPN (@espn) June 3, 2019
But it was the Toronto Raptors who ultimately suffered the worse fate under the weight of Obama's cursèd glare. The home team failed to build on the momentum following their impressive victory in Game 1, and despite the aforementioned injuries to their opponent's key players, were outscored by 13 point in the third quarter, and suffered a humiliating defeat in from of their adoring fans, considerably lowering the team's already steep odds to dethrone the defending champions.
Athletes beware: the Obama curse is real, and you could be next.