John Kasich shows off jump shot on NH basketball court

MILFORD, New Hampshire -- Eight years after a fresh-faced presidential candidate from Illinois impressed voters with his smooth jump shot and knowledge of college hoops, another White House hopeful is relaxing on the campaign trail by hitting the basketball court. This one might be a little less smooth on the court, but he's got decades' more political experience than Barack Obama had at this time in 2007.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich took a break from the campaign trail Thursday to shoot some midday hoops in New Hampshire. And while he may not have President Obama's playground skills, the 63-year-old Republican candidate showed he knows how to put the ball in the hoop.

After finishing a town hall in Milford that sounded a "little bit like a sermon," Kasich joked, he couldn't resist taking the open court at the Hampshire Hills Athletic Club, recruiting a campaign reporter to rebound for him and leaving the debt clock behind.

"I haven't played in six months," Kasich said to his Snapchatting staff as he dribbled the ball a few times before missing his first shot from the free throw line.

A few shots later, despite his hitched release arc and flat follow through, the surprisingly athletic Republican candidate was hitting every other shot. A reporter in the room remarked that his form was "scrappy."

"Just like my campaign," Kasich replied between rebounds.

"I used to have this move when I was younger," Kasich said to a small group of onlookers. He crouched into an athletic position in his grey dress pants and white dress shirt behind the three point arc, taking a dribble and jumping into a line drive of a shot from the 3-point line. He missed his first three but didn't relent until he made one...eight or so shots later.

The Ohio Governor soon challenged his spokesman Chris Schrimpf to play a game of H-O-R-S-E.

Schrimpf made a few easy baskets. A group of five-year-olds in day care walked through the court chanting, "Good morning, Governor," in unison. Barely breaking focus, Kasich looked up to say hello before quickly getting back to the game at hand. He eventually won, but the crowd that had gathered speculated that Schrimpf purposely let the boss win.

Kasich's basketball break coincided with a Twitter feud of sorts with the Philladelphia 76ers. Kasich ran into members of the NBA team earlier that morning at his hotel -- the 76ers are in town for a preseason game against the Boston Celtics -- and mentioned the run-in at his business-themed town hall as he spoke about the importance of job skills.

"The reason why some of them make a lot of money is because they have skills," he said. "Not too many Sixers have had that many skills lately, but they do."

An ABC reporter tweeted out Kasich's comment, and the Sixers' official account tweeted back, making a reference to Kasich's low standing in national polls.

The team deleted their tweet moments later.

But the exchange was not lost on Kasich's staff. They Snapchatted video of the governor swishing a jump shot with the caption, "LeBron who?!." They then tweeted the 3-second video at the Sixers in an attempt to make nice.

In:
• John Kasich
• 2016 Election