Obama Gets a Fat Lip Playing Hoops

The offending elbow was unavailable for comment.

President Barack Obama received 12 stitches in his lip after being hit during a pick up basketball game, the White House said on Friday.

"After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the president received 12 stitches today administered by the White House Medical Unit," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, according to NBC News.

Gibbs did not release the names of the people playing with the president.

Obama received the stitches under local anesthesia in the doctor's office on the ground floor White House after he returned home.

The president had traveled to nearby Fort McNair to indulge in one of his favorite athletic pursuits, basketball. It was a five-on-five contest involving family and friends and including Reggie Love, Obama's personal assistant who played at Duke University.

Update: The "culprit" has been identified.

The White House
did not initially name the person who caused the injury, but identified him later Friday as Rey Decerega, director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.