The NBA lockout ended last weekend, and though the reporter in question asked President Barack Obama about "the strike," the Commander in Chief had it together long enough to not rail at the journalist in question and send off a sound-enough answer regarding the season that we once thought wouldn't happen.

"Good deal," the president said. Actually, it's a terrible deal for the players, a fantastic deal for the owners, but a good deal for anyone that loves watching pro hoops. We're a month away from watching someone named Metta World Peace(notes) start at small forward for the Los Angeles Lakers. Tell me that's not a great thing, I dare you.

Then there was this picture:

… which as The Basketball Jones' Trey Kerby accurately noted, showcased the president carrying Under Armour shoes that remain heretofore unreleased with the presidential seal on the tongue.

And following an, er, follow-up, Kerbz relays this quote from Nick DePaula from the fantastic shoe site Sole Collector:

They're actually samples of a model releasing in 2012. They have the same tooling as the Lite/Clutch/Funk. He's the same size as Brandon Jennings(notes) (11), so I guess they slide him samples here and there. Pays to be the president, apparently.

Well, sometimes it does. And before Trey gathered that quote, this picture popped up at SLAM, featuring top UA endorser Brandon Jennings, who is from Compton:

(Also, that picture apparently first grew legs at the Hoop China message board.)

What is obviously clear is that Barack Obama is such a Chicago Bulls fan that he wears his Derrick Rose(notes)-styled adidas while working the court; but because left/right politics are so divisive, and the last batch of presidential elections have just about split the country into 50/50 sides, the world's second most-famous Bulls fan (besides Jim Belushi, of course) doesn't want to alter the relative popularity of his favorite team's best player.

But Jennings? A guy that plays for the bloody Bucks? The president will gladly hold his shoes out and with the logos visible for whatever photographer that wants a taste. That way, Brandon takes the heat for his association with politics half the country doesn't agree with, and the president gets to bring the heat on the court every other Saturday morning. In Derrick Rose's kicks, 'natch.

Either way, good deal.

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