'His shoe broke!': Incredulous Obama shocked at exploding sneaker in basketball game (VIDEO)

Former US President Barack Obama was left incredulous at a recent college basketball between game between University of North Carolina and Duke when Duke forward Zion Williamson's shoe inexplicably exploded on court.

Obama was attending the North Carolina Tar Heels versus Duke Blue Devils game on Thursday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, when just 33 seconds into the meeting, six-feet-seven-inch 275-pound forward Williamson tumbled to the floor holding his leg.

As he fell, Williamson's shoe burst open, causing the 44th president of the United States to promptly exclaim "his shoe broke!" which was picked up perfectly by cameras.

Williamson was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury, and Obama wished the man who is projected to be the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft according to many sports analystsa speedy recovery on Twitter after the game, calling him "an outstanding young man as well as an outstanding basketball player".

He was joined in wishing Williamson well by some of the sports most famous faces, including LeBron James, who said he "literally blew threw his" shoe.

The incident caused a stir online, and many were quick to poke fun at Nike, the brand of shoe Williamson was wearing at the time of the fall, assuming that any probable injury to such a valuable player would spell a huge marketing malfunction for the brand.

Aside from the Williamson shoe-bursting injury, Obama had an eventful time court side at the ACC rivalry game, also being accused of staring at ESPN reporter Maria Taylor's backside after the camera caught his gaze at an uncompromising level while she was giving a broadcast.

However, the two were later pictured talking in the stands, suggesting the stare from the married ex-president was more of the coincidental kind.