THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all, please be seated. Gosh, what an
honor it is to welcome the mighty Detroit Pistons to the White House.
(Applause.) With all the fans here and the players, I guess you'd
expect to hear somebody ringing the gong. (Laughter.)
I love to welcome champs to the people's home. I also am glad to
welcome members of the Michigan delegation. Senator Levin, thank you
for coming. Congressman Kildee. Congressman Levin -- that would be
Senator Levin's brother. (Laughter.) Joe Knollenberg is here; thanks
for coming, Joe, it's great to see you. Congressman Carolyn Kilpatrick
-- that would be the mom of the Mayor. (Laughter.) I'm sure the Mayor
was there during the celebration. Candice Miller is with us. Thank
you all for coming; I'm honored that you're here to welcome your
favorite team.
I'm proud to be on the -- sharing the stage with Coach Larry
Brown. The guy must know what he's doing, you know? (Laughter and
applause.) He's NCAA champs with the Kansas Jayhawks and now is a
professional basketball coach that won the NBA crown. Bill Davidson.
I've known Bill Davidson in the past, he is a true gentleman, a great
civic leader in the Detroit area. Mr. Davidson, thank you for being
here; congratulations on the championship. (Applause.) Oscar Feldman,
part owner of the Pistons is with us; thank you for coming, Oscar. Joe
Dumars and Bill Laimbeer, both of them came to the White House as
champs. (Applause.) As I recall, you came here in '89 and '90 -- I'm
aware of who was living here then. (Laughter.) Welcome back.
Congratulations to Joe as the President of Basketball Operations --
Mr. President. And Bill, of course, is the coach of the Shock, who we
welcomed here to the Rose Garden last -- two years ago. Tom Wilson,
the President of Palace Sports and Entertainment. I want to thank all
the players and your families who've come. Welcome. I hope you've
gotten a tour of this majestic place. It's a special place to work and
live.
I want to congratulate Chauncey Billups for being the NBA
Championship Series MVP. (Applause.) So nobody expected you to win --
I know how you feel. (Laughter.) You won because you put a team
together. You had people willing to serve something greater than
yourself, and it's a wonderful example for kids on playgrounds or
people in all walks of life. I guess you kind of just played it the
right way. I think that's what the coach says, play it the right way.
That's how we should live life. That's what champs do. They set an
example.
As you know, a lot of kids look at you. They see you as the big
star. They wonder what life should be like, and every time you set an
example for a kid to make a right choice in life, you're helping save a
life. And I want to thank you for the extent that you do that.
I also appreciate the fact that you've been involved in great
causes like teaching children how to read. I can't think of a more
important cause than lending a gift of knowledge to a child. I
remember the time in Houston, Texas, when a woman walked up to me and
she said, reading is the new civil right. I thought that was such a
powerful phrase. If you believe that, if you believe you liberate
people by teaching them to read, consider yourself liberators as a
result of being in the program, "Read to Achieve."
I want to thank you for setting an example for the tsunami relief
effort. As you might remember, I tapped two former Presidents, 41 and
42 -- that would be my dad and President Clinton -- to join together to
help raise money. I suspect basketball players probably have a little
more pull than they do. And so I want to thank you for setting an
example of serving people who hurt. In other words, you have taken
your great championship status and converted it to good. And that's
good.
And so we're here to congratulate you for being the great champs
that you are. And by the way, I also want to thank you for providing
entertainment for our troops overseas. I don't know if you know this
or not, but a lot of people overseas support professional basketball;
professional basketball provides great relief from their duty and
entertainment, a reminder of what life is like back home, and I suspect
a lot of them are Detroit Pistons fans, as well.
So thank you for what you're doing, supporting those who have
helped make this world a more peaceful and free place. In other words,
welcome to the White House, and congratulations for being called
"champs." Thanks for coming. (Applause.)