Barack Obama Held $30,000-a-Person Fundraiser at Vince Carter’s House

Vince Carter’s home in Florida hosted some serious VIPs last night, as President Barack Obama held a fundraiser in the NBA star’s crib. Per the AP: “Obama indulged his NBA habit at the home of Dallas Mavericks guard Vince Carter, where about 70 guests gathered for a $30,000-a-person fundraiser. Among those invited were former L.A. Lakers star Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, former Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Obama embraced warmly as the president entered. The group gathered in Carter’s gymnasium, with the scoreboard showing 2012 on the clock and the score tied at 44, a reference to Obama, the 44th president. ‘It’s a nice gym,’ Obama observed, understatedly. ‘Vince said he left the other side open in case I wanted to get in a dunk contest with him. I told him I didn’t bring my sneakers, so not tonight.’ Obama thanked NBA Commissioner David Stern, also in attendance, for resolving the basketball lockout that delayed the start of the basketball season. ‘I don’t know what I would be doing with myself if I at least didn’t have some basketball games around,’ Obama said. The president headlined three campaign fundraisers in Florida, a traditional political battleground that could be key to his re-election hopes. But he had more than the November election on his mind. An avid basketball fan, the president also lamented missing Thursday night’s highly anticipated NBA matchup between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. ‘I’m resentful I’m not going to the game tonight. I’m mad about that,’ Obama joked. ‘It’s not right. It’s not fair.'”