NEW YORK (AP) ― President Barack Obama sees the presidential contest as a clutch moment in his favorite sporting moment ― the fourth quarter of a taut basketball game.

Fundraising with the help of current and former National Basketball Association stars, Obama told a small group of donors gathered Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center that the current campaign is like the final minutes of a basketball contest with his team up by a few points

“But the other side is coming strong,” Obama said. “And they play a little dirty. We’ve got a few folks on our team in foul trouble. We have a couple of injuries. And I believe they have one last run in them.”

Obama raised $3 million with the help of the players, who included former Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan and former Knicks Walt Frazier and Bill Bradley. NBA Commissioner David Stern also was there.

Invoking Jordan’s competitive nature, Obama concluded: “If you have seven minutes to go and you have a little bit of a lead, that’s when you put them away.”

The players were part a day long fundraiser. Earlier, former and current players participated in a $250 per person autograph session and in a skills camp priced at for $5,000 for two people.

“It is very rare that I come to an event where I’m like the fifth or sixth most interesting person,” Obama joked at the Lincoln Center dinner.

Later, Obama changed out of his dark suit to shoot baskets