"Suns forward Grant Hill returned to US Airways Center this week for daily individual workouts.

He did some scrimmaging last week, playing with a slew of NBA stars and a gangly, 6-foot-1 world leader. Hill was part of President Barack Obama's basketball-and-barbecue birthday bash Aug. 8 in Washington, D.C., along with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant (spectator only) and other current and past pros.

"It was great to be in the presence of the president and play ball with him," Hill said. "We were not playing too hard but it was still competitive. It was kind of what you'd expect from NBA players playing pickup ball in early August. I wasn't running the court like I run the wing here in Phoenix."

Hill's squad, one of four, with Chauncey Billups, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah and two amateurs lost to Obama's team on a game-winning shot by the president at Fort McNair.

"He's pretty good, better than I thought," Hill said. "I was asking guys, 'What do you do if he comes to the lane? Do you block his shot?' Before we started, he pulled everyone to the middle of the court and said, 'Look at those men over there (pointing at Secret Service). They have guns.' "

The barbecue was Hill's third White House visit to Obama, whom he supported as a 2007 fundraiser co-chair and a host for a 2009 Michelle Obama event.

In November, before the Suns played at Washington, Hill and Steve Nash visited the White House to shoot with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and were joined by Obama briefly. Hill also took his family there last summer for an Oval Office tour.

Hill has held a White House tie since 1993. His father, Calvin, was a Yale fraternity brother of George W. Bush. Hill's mother, Janet, was a Wellesley College suitemate of Hillary Clinton."