Obama Honors NBA Champion Cavaliers, Gives Shout Out to J.R. Smith’s Shirt

WASHINGTON (AP) — You learn a lot about people when they’re down, President Barack Obama declared Thursday, and he wasn’t talking about an election. Obama saluted the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers for rallying from behind to defeat the Golden State Warriors and end a Cleveland pro sports title drought stretching back to 1964.

Obama honored the Cavs on the South Lawn of the White House, squeezing in another sports champion before he leaves office. He opened with: “That’s right. I said world champion and Cleveland in the same sentence.”

The Cavs came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the championship against a Warriors team that set an NBA record for wins during the regular season.

“The first team in history to dig themselves out of a hole like that,” Obama said. “The comeback was remarkable, and you learn about people when they’re down.”

.@POTUS greets the @cavs at The @WhiteHouse ??

LIVE on NBA TV! https://t.co/45YSSIAce9

— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 10, 2016

That comment came shortly after Obama met with Donald Trump, who won the White House race to succeed him after a campaign in which the president declared the businessman unfit.