Barack Obama breaks down funny handshake with Gonzaga’s Mark Few

Former president’s interactions with members of USA Basketball were reminiscent of a famous Key & Peele sketch

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Gonzaga men’s basketball head coach Mark Few had plenty of unforgettable experiences during his run as an assistant coach with USA Basketball this summer at the Paris Games.

Prior to the team’s departure for the Olympics in July, Few and the star-studded cast of Americans had a chance to meet Barack Obama in a grand send-off to Paris. As the 44th president of the United States began to exchange pleasantries with the players and coaches, he greeted some very familiar faces. LeBron James, who visited the White House three times during Obama’s presidency as part of the annual NBA champions tour, as well as Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, were among the select group who received a full embrace from the former president as he went down the line.

Standing next to the three future hall-of-famers was Few, who had never met Obama and as such, was greeted with a simple and polite handshake. The awkwardly humorous scene was very reminiscent of a famous comedy routine from Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key, in which Obama (played by Peele) greets guests at a political event in completely different manners based on their race.

During an appearance on a podcast this week, Obama admitted the comparison to the Key & Peele sketch was funny, though the real-life scenario didn’t exactly play out like the routine.

Tyrese had to ask Obama about doing the Key & Peele handshake sketch IRL w/ Team USA basketball 🤣💀 pic.twitter.com/bu7mapUYwP

— TheYoungManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) October 23, 2024

“Right before I got to coach Few, it’s Steph, it’s LeBron — I’ve been knowing those guys forever,” Obama said on The Young Man and The Three podcast. “I’ve had dinner with them, their families … and so then coach Few I had never met, and he put out his hand and so I’m like alright, yeah I don’t know, is he gonna be comfortable if I pull him into a bro hug?”

The comedic aspect of the situation heightened when Team USA head coach Steve Kerr, another familiar face to Obama, greeted the ex-president with a said “bro hug.”

“So I just shook [Few’s] hand, Kerr was right afterward; Steve I knew,” Obama said. “The way it played out, I will say, it looked just like that Key & Peele sketch.

When they ran [the sketch and Obama’s real meeting with Team USA} side-by-side, I had to say alright, y’all caught me on that one.”

The Key & Peele sketch in question has roughly 31 million views since it was posted on Comedy Central’s YouTube page 10 years ago. 

"Peele does a pretty good Obama [impression]," Obama said. "He exaggerates it but he's kinda got the voice."