Obama’s basketball diplomacy

President Obama took some time Monday out of his busy schedule to shoot some hoops with 22 Russian kids who are in town to fulfill the cultural part of his "reset" in U.S.-Russia relations.

The Russian youth spending 11 days in Washington as part of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission’s Education, Culture, Sports, and Media Working Group, one of the many such working groups set up by the two sides last year.

"The group will visit American students, take part in disability sports, team building activities, and see the Washington Mystics play to demonstrate how Americans participate in athletics in order to develop life skills," said National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer. "The exchange aims to establish a lasting dialogue between Russian and American youth."

The trip is being run by the Sports Visitor program, one of the two main programs run by the State Department’s SportsUnited outfit. The Sports Envoy program, which sends American athletes and coaches abroad, is also highly active.

This summer, the State Department will send NBA and WNBA players to four regions of the world, with the aim of reaching youth in Cape Verde, Indonesia, Malawi, Serbia, and Tunisia.

The sports envoys aren’t going to those countries to send a specific message. The State Department is extremely unhappy with the government of Malawi for sentencing a gay couple to 14 years in prison, for instance, but is moving ahead with plans to send b-ballers to the impoverished African state.

Nor will the envoys necessarily be household names (though Lakers point guard Kobe Bryant appears in a video promoting the USA Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo). Recent envoys have included WNBA President Donna Orender, current Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, and WNBA star Cynthia Cooper. Right now, retired NBA journeyman Sam Perkins and WBNA star Sue Wicks are in Indonesia. Former LA Laker Mark Madsen is in Tunisia with former WNBA standout Monique Ambers.

Next month, State will send sports stars to teach soccer in Azerbaijan,bring 12 Venezuelan girls to play soccer in the United States, send basketball stars to Serbia, and bring 20 Russian kids to learn swimming in the U.S. Later this summer, State will bring 20 Panamanian kids here to learn soccer and send 20 American kids to Russia to play beach volleyball near the Black Sea.