Brown ready to hoop it up with Obama, but can’t get on the White House court

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is ready to take up President Obama’s invitation to play hoops, but he’s finding it tough to get on the White House court these days.

Brown is an avid baller, as is the commander in chief. Obama had a full court installed on the White House tennis court shortly after taking office. 

{mosads}In June of last year, Obama invited Brown to shoot hoops at the White House. At the time, Democrats controlled 59 seats in the Senate and Brown was a crucial swing vote.

Brown voted with Democrats several times that year, helping them pass Wall Street reform and extend unemployment benefits. But he didn’t develop into the ally Obama and Democrats had hoped for.

Fifteen months later, Brown is still waiting to get on the court with Obama.

“I challenged him, and every time I see him he says, ‘Oh, we’re going to get that game,’ and every time I see his people they say that as well, and it hasn’t happened,” Brown said.

Brown already has his team picked out for the White House hoops session.

“I’d love to play,” he said. “How about Arne Duncan and me against Reggie Love and the president?”

Duncan, the secretary of Education, and Love, Obama’s assistant (who played for Duke University), are regular members of Obama’s pickup circle.

Brown has a pretty good idea what the two of them can do on the court. He played with both in a charity basketball game against Georgetown University’s law school earlier this year.

Still, it’s unlikely that Brown, a southpaw like the president, will be driving the lane on the White House court anytime soon. Obama wants to keep the Senate in Democratic hands, and for that to happen, Brown might have to be a 2012 Election Day casualty.

Brown is facing a tough challenge against Elizabeth Warren, whom the president tapped to set up the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.