Watch Barack Obama and Stephen Colbert go one-on-one in wastepaper basketball

Stephen Colbert put President Barack Obama’s competitiveness to the test on The Late Show

Stephen Colbert and former President Barack Obama are both used to being the best at what they do. So it is no surprise to see how competitive things became when the comedian challenged the former president to a game of wastepaper basketball last night on The Late Show.

President Obama sat down for an interview with Colbert to discuss his memoir A Promised Land. The 44th president harshly criticized the current administration’s pandemic response, discussed the hard conversations he had with Michelle Obama about running for president, and touted some of his unsung accomplishments while in office.

At the end of their time together, Colbert decided to test President Obama’s famous competitive spirit. Everyone knows that President Obama is a basketball player and a recent viral video proved his jump shot is still looking good.

Colbert is smart enough not to challenge President Obama to an actual game of basketball. So the late night host leveled the playing field a bit by setting up a round of wastepaper basketball. Place your bets on who you think won and then watch the action right here:

Did you have Stephen Colbert winning 8-0 over President Barack Obama? We didn’t think so. It was an upset. It was a landslide. Now all that’s left is to wait for the sequel to A Promised Land and then look for Colbert’s name.

Barack Obama reminds Stephen Colbert of what a president can be like

If you watched Stephen Colbert’s interview, you noticed that he spent most of time fawning over President Barack Obama. The comedian is clearly exhausted after the past four years and has made it very obvious that he no longer wants to talk about President Donald Trump.

The game of wastepaper basketball was another way that Colbert reminded himself, and his audience, about what a president could be like. President Obama made a number of late night television appearances during his time in the White House, playing along with whatever games and bits the shows came up with.

President Trump’s policies and demeanor made it clear that he wasn’t going to get the same invitations. He may have been watching the shows from the White House and sharing his thoughts, but it’s hard to imagine him shooting paper balls with Stephen Colbert.

Who knows if President-elect Joe Biden will be eager to do anything like that once he takes office. But it’s a safe bet to say that he’ll be welcomed on The Late Show, The Tonight Show, or any other late night show as the hosts look to get back to more things like a friendly game of wastepaper basketball when it comes to covering the president.

Were you surprised by the results of the wastepaper basketball game? Let us know in the comment section below.