If you’ve just called “got next” at one of President Obama’s famed pickup basketball games, you’d better be sure of two things: One, you always set picks for he Prez. Two, you’d better be a guy. Believe it or not, there’s a growing undercurrent of discontent — including those in his own party — that Obama isn’t letting women play in his White House basketball games.

I wasn’t really sure I believed that people were getting worked up over this, so I did some checking around, and sure enough: The President of the National Organization for Women is one of those who finds Obama’s all-male games “troubling.” THE NEW YORK TIMES just did a big story on it, and bloggers have been debating the topic all week.

The tipping point seemed to come earlier this month when Obama organized a game with  11 members of Congress and four Cabinet Secretaries — all men.

“Relationships get built in those more informal settings,” NOW president Terry O’Neill told ABC News, “and the relationships have a huge impact on the influence an individual has. We know what happens when we segregated whether it by race or whether it by gender — you end up with 1st class citizens and you end up with 2nd class citizens.”

O’Neill told ABC News’ Mike Callahan, “we need to see the White House leading the way for desegregating the work places all around the country and it is troubling.”

The NEW YORK TIMES did a piece on the controversy on Saturday, noting that some see the White House turning into a frat house, with a guys-only sports mentality that often leaves women out of the loop. But in an interview with NBC on Wednesday, Obama called the whole thing “bunk,” noting that his administration has appointed seven women to top cabinet positions (Bush had four, Clinton six), and that there’s a 50-50 gender split among White House employees overall.

THE TIMES contends that there are still concerns, however, that the Obama administration is turning into a boys-only tree fort.

The technical foul over the all-male game has become a nagging concern for a White House that has battled an impression dating to the presidential campaign that Mr. Obama’s closest advisers form a boys’ club and that he is too frequently in the company of only men — not just when playing sports, but also when making big decisions.

While the senior adviser Valerie Jarrett is undeniably one of the president’s closest White House confidantes, some women inside or close to the administration complain that Mr. Obama’s female advisers are not as visible as their male colleagues or, they suspect, as influential.

One Democratic media strategist says that while Mr. Obama does place women in important roles, his comfort level with staff members is not always perceived as equal.

“There is a sense that Obama has a certain jocular familiarity with the men that he doesn’t have with the women,” said Tracy Sefl, an adviser to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign who speaks regularly to some female aides in the administration.

Hmm. I tend to discount this entire thing. But to be fair, what other president has a web site devoted entirely to his basketball exploits? Then there’s this:

I saw a similar mix devoted to Woodrow Wilson that wasn’t nearly as good.

It’s also been pointed out that in the 23 rounds of golf that Obama has played since becoming president, none have included a woman. So on Sunday he played golf with White House Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes. This report from the WASHINGTON POST:

Obama departed the White House at 12:18 p.m. wearing a black short-sleeve shirt. Barnes was wearing a baseball cap, dark long-sleeve shirt and beige pants. Marvin Nicholson, the White House trip director, loaded the golf clubs into the motorcade.

Our long national nightmare may be over.