US President Joe Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris are presented with jerseys from members of the Golden State Warriors basketball team during a celebration for their 2022 NBA championship, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 17, 2023. (AFP)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s a White House divided — not over politics but the NBA playoffs as Vice President Kamala Harris cheers on the Golden State Warriors and her husband Doug Emhoff backs the Los Angeles Lakers.
“This is a whole situation in the household,” Emhoff, whose official title is Second Gentleman, told the Los Angeles Times. “Kamala is a serious Warriors fan, I mean serious.
“I’m a hardcore Laker fan.”
The Lakers currently lead the Warriors by three games to two in their best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.
Stephen Curry scored 27 points on Wednesday as the Warriors staved off elimination with a 121-106 victory over the LeBron James-led Lakers.
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors drives against Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers during the third quarter in game two of the Western Conference Semifinal Playoffs at Chase Center on May 04, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Getty Images via AFP)
Harris is a native of Oakland, California, while Emhoff went to school in southern California — Lakers territory. Both of course have offices in the White House compound.
Emhoff said that when he and Harris learned their two favorite teams would be battling in the playoffs, “we looked at each other and it was like, ‘Game on!'”
They posted a friendly wager on Twitter. The loser will have to wear the winning team’s jersey.
If the Warriors win, Emhoff would be forced to wear a jersey emblazoned with Harris’s name and the number “1” that she received in January from Curry when the defending NBA champions visited the White House.
Game 6 in the Warriors-Lakers series is in Los Angeles on Friday. Only 13 NBA teams have rallied from 3-1 down to win a series.