Over the last few years, Netflix has gone big with its sports-based docuseries, recently releasing another focused on basketball. Court of Gold has many fans—including McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri—talking, with a rather interesting scene also featuring former U.S. President Barack Obama.
The series covers the journey of the American basketball team at the Paris 2024 Olympics—a star-stacked squad featuring veterans like LeBron James and Stephen Curry, as well as young talents like Anthony Edwards.
In one scene, Obama interacts with the players, with Edwards becoming the center of attention—just as he often is for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Obama attempted to poke fun and engage in banter with Edwards, who might have been intimidated by a former President’s presence. But true to himself, Edwards held firm with his signature swagger — something Piastri seemingly loved.
“He can hoop a little bit, huh?” Obama jokingly asked. Confident as ever, Edwards responded, “Y’all better stand down, I’m the TRUTH.”
Oscar Piastri is loving Netflix’s new NBA series ‘Court of Gold’!
Would’ve enjoyed the banter between Anthony Edwards and Barack Obama pic.twitter.com/js30hdIL4d— Motorsport Fan (@F1IndyWEC) February 23, 2025
Obama was taken aback. But he didn’t let the moment pass without probing further. He brought James into the conversation, asking if the team was aware of Edwards’ habit of calling himself “the truth.”
“THE TRUTH, the whole TRUTH, and nothing but the TRUTH?” James asked. Once again, Edwards responded confidently, justifying his claim by stating how good he was—after Joel Embiid had initially told Obama he could hoop ‘just a little’.
View this post on Instagram
Piastri, who is set to compete in his third F1 season this year, loved this confidence. “Loving Court of Gold,” he wrote on Instagram while reposting a clip of this exchange. Obama too, appreciated Edwards standing his ground. “You gotta have a little swagger,” Obama concluded.
Piastri’s love for basketball
Piastri, an Aussie, enjoyed watching the docuseries capturing Team USA’s gold medal victory at Paris 2024 on Netflix. But his love for basketball started long before that. He is a huge NBA fan, as he has shown many times by engaging with the basketball community online.
He even reacted to the shocking Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers on February 6, writing, “This NBA trade deadline is wild,” on Instagram.
Two weeks later, during All-Star weekend, Piastri tuned in once again—this time to watch the slam dunk contest, where Mac McClung made history by winning for the third time.
Who knows? Perhaps in 2025, the Melbourne-born driver will head stateside to catch an NBA game in person. It would surely help bring new eyeballs to both F1 and basketball.
