Wizards chat it up about Barack Obama's inauguration

As an estimated two million people will converge on the greater Washington D.C. area this week while the district's NBA team will be on the road for a four-game West Coast trip. NBA.com caught up with Wizards head coach Ed Tapscott and All-Stars Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison to talk about the historical swearing-in of the 44th president of the United States.

How close did you follow the campaign and elections last year?

Tapscott: Very. Well if you're from Washington, you're sort of raised with elections and politics.

Did you participate in the political process?

Butler: Yeah, definitely. On the last two terms, I had been more cautious and aware of exercising my right to vote. This election was a little more significant than others because of the state that our economy is in.

So, what were your initial reactions when you heard the election results?

Jamison: I was excited. I think in my lifetime, I never thought I'd see it take place. You know there's always been talk about guys who have an opportunity to be president, but you really didn't feel it was possible until Barack was running.

Tapscott: Well, I was following them very closely from Day 1. It was a highly anticipated election, and the results had me and many of my friends in a real state of euphoria.

You guys were in Milwaukee. Did you go home?

Butler: Yes. I actually went down to my grandmother's house. We were all sitting there, my mother, my grandmother. There were like 30 people in the house. It was all family and friends. They read the results ... then all the sudden you just heard horns blowing and people flashing lights in their houses. It was a moment. You saw all different races and all different walks of life just celebrating that movement.

And now you guys are leaving this week.

Butler: We are. But at the same time I know my wife is going to be here, my brother is going to be here. I've still got a lot of family members, aunts and uncles who came in. They're going to record it and so I'm just gonna live through them for the moment. But I'm definitely going to watch it on television.

All kinds of people will travel to the D.C. area. Are you disappointed that you're missing out?

Tapscott: I'd say that's one of those mixed feelings. We have a job to do, which is to go and play our games. I'm always looking for the chance to go and play our games and to improve ourselves. At the same time, there's a certain side of me that would like to be here for what I consider a historic occasion, and to be able to participate in it. But obviously the job takes precedence this time, and so I will relive that through the eyes of my wife.

But when you come home, Barack Obama will be our president. What does that mean to you?

Butler: He'll officially be in there. It will mean a lot. You know, I'll probably see him a lot. He's a big fan of the game of basketball, so hopefully we'll get him in here a couple of times.

You've been vocal on social issues in the past and are involved in the community. Does this time in our country cause you to reflect on things in your life?

Jamison: It does. I tell people this all the time, when I was a kid there were a lot of things I was told I could become once I got older. [But] being a president wasn't one of the things that an African-American could ever be a part of. So it gives you hope that no matter what your dreams are or what you want to accomplish, anything is possible as long as you believe and continue to work.

Tapscott: I think what it does is bring a renewed sense of hope and hopefulness to the country, not only to this country, but to the world. It's a unique and interesting statement to see an ethnic minority in the most powerful country in the world to be elected to the highest office. All countries in the world have different ethnic minorities within their populations, and I think that resonates with so many internationally as well as nationally. So I think all of us feel a renewed sense of hopefulness here in the United States and elsewhere in the world because of this event.

What does the inauguration of Obama mean to you and your family?

Butler: We opened up and talked about it as a family. I'm talking about you got at least three or four generations in the household, and we're telling stories and talking about their opportunities. [When my grandmother] was coming up, she said that "We were limited to just working in the cotton fields ... Columbus, Mississippi ... all we could do. All they told us was just working in the cotton fields." That's it. And then you're talking about my mom's era, in the '60's and '70's, and they told them that, "You're good with you're hands ... then you could work on the assembly line or you could be a nurse." That's the best you could be. And in my era coming up, they told us, "Oh, you're tall. You could be an athlete. Or at best, you could be a lawyer," or something like that. But seeing is believing. You see somebody running for the presidency of United States ... African-American male ... that's like, man! That's like you really can do anything! So it was unbelievable for all of our generations to talk about how some were told they could do just one thing, and now we can do anything. It was crazy.

I'm sure you've heard about Obama and his basketball skills. Do you anticipate that you and the team will get a chance to play a pickup game with him at the future White House basketball court?

Tapscott: Well if he'd like to come and get in practice, we'll sign him to a 10-day [contract] for sure. Although I think right now he probably doesn't have time for a second job. He's probably pretty focused.

Butler: I would love to play against him and the secret service. That would be unbelievable! It's just going to be an unbelievable moment and I'm just so happy for [Obama]. I'm so happy that my children have an opportunity to be able to see this, and that I am able to see this.