THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Stretching every bit of his seven-foot-six wingspan, JaVale McGee rose high above the rim to slam in Caron Butler's alley-oop pass, then raised his hand to his forehead and saluted President Barack Obama.

With the Hoopster-in-Chief at courtside -- the first president in nearly a decade to make the jaunt from the White House to attend an NBA game -- McGee, Butler and the rest of the last-place Washington Wizards embarrassed Obama's hometown team, beating the Chicago Bulls 113-90 Friday night.

For the first time since Feb. 5, 1993, the Wizards had eight double-figure scorers, and Antawn Jamison led the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

John Salmons scored 25 for Chicago, but no one else added more than 11.

Obama's fashionably late arrival delayed the game's tipoff for a few minutes, which seemed just fine with everyone in attendance.

The crowd of 18,114 greeted him with a standing ovation and raucous cheering, while several players stood on court and applauded, too.

Once the game began, the Wizards looked little like a team that entered the night 13-44, the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

It's the Bulls who are supposed to be in the playoff picture, having started the day just a game out of the East's last post-season berth.

But Washington led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, and while the Bulls closed within 49-45 at halftime, the hosts pulled back in front by 25 in the fourth period.

When Obama got up to leave with just under 4 1/2 minutes left, Washington was ahead 103-86. Seconds later, Butler's 3-pointer made it a 20-point margin.

Obama applauded politely for both teams, and slapped high-fives a couple of times with a rather enthusiastic fan who was wearing a T-shirt with the commander-in-chief's likeness and sitting a couple of rows behind him.

While the president wasn't exactly leaping out of his seat to pump his fists for the Bulls or argue any calls with the referees, everyone knew which team had his support.

"We all know that he's from Chicago. That's the only reason why he's here tonight. I have no problem with that," Jamison said before tipoff. "You can't convert him overnight.

"Eventually -- he's here for four or eight years -- we can be his second-favourite team."

Jamison scored 13 points in the first quarter, nine more than any player on either team, and his 3-pointer with 1:45 left in the period gave Washington a 25-10 advantage.

The quarter ended with the Wizards ahead 27-18.

The president left his courtside seat with 47.8 seconds left in the first half to make a visit to Wizards owner Abe Pollin's suite. Obama returned to his seat by the court in the second half.

Thanks to the president's connection to Chicago, the Bulls spent some time at the White House on this visit to Washington -- a perk usually reserved for championship teams -- and even were given something of a pep talk by Obama.

What was his message? "'You've got a young team. Stay together, and a lot of great things can happen,"' Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "He went into some other things, but that was the gist of it."

Obama, the first president at a Wizards game since Bill Clinton on Jan. 19, 2000, is a tried-and-true fan of the sport who plays pickup games regularly.

His brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is the men's basketball coach at Oregon State.

Wizards players and interim coach Ed Tapscott sounded pleased to finally have a basketball enthusiast at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"It's terrific for us that he'll be the 'First Fan' of the NBA," Tapscott said with a wide grin. "If I can get him to help us recruit free agents, that'd be terrific.

"I better check to see if there are any rules against that."

Notes: The Bulls spent about three hours visiting the White House on Thursday, including a 15-minute visit with Obama. "He actually knew who a couple of us were. A couple of us -- me being one of the couple," Bulls G Lindsey Hunter said. ... A pre-game moment of silence was observed in memory of former Bulls player Norm Van Lier and former Bulls coach Johnny (Red) Kerr, who both died Thursday. ... After recently criticizing some of his players' preparation, Tapscott took the unusual step of heading out on court before the game to observe shooting drills run by assistant coaches. "There was -- how shall I say? -- full attendance," Tapscott said.