07/24/26 04:33:00
Printable Page
07/24 16:31 CDT Former President Barack Obama surprises WNBA All-Stars at their
practice at his Presidential Center
Former President Barack Obama surprises WNBA All-Stars at their practice at his
Presidential Center
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
CHICAGO (AP) --- Caitlin Clark was in awe after meeting former President Barack
Obama after he surprised the WNBA All-Stars on Friday at his Presidential
Center.
Clark called her conversation with Obama "a moment I'll probably remember for
the rest of my life."
"It was obviously super cool. He just complimented me for the way that I handle
everything, obviously with everything that's been going on," the Indiana Fever
star said Friday after meeting Obama. "He's somebody that has been in front of
the media quite a bit and he reminded me, ?When I got famous in my 40s, I
didn't have to do it in my 20s.'"
Obama spoke to the players for a few minutes on the basketball court at the
center which opened last month.
"Some of you I'm meeting for the first time. All of you are extraordinary and I
could not be bigger fans," Obama said. "The way the game has been growing
lately, the way it's been picking up and people paying attention to your
excellence, I think it's been something for basketball fans, generally, a sight
to see. It's been making me happy."
He spoke to the players for a few minutes before taking a group photo. Obama
then spent about 10 minutes shaking hands with the players and taking photos
with them, including Clark.
"I know many of you are involved in some wonderful ventures off the court,
looking out for other young people and inspiring them. I just wanted to say
thanks," Obama said.
The former president gave a shout out to A'ja Wilson in his talk to the players
and then went over and chatted with her as well.
After the photo-ops were done, Obama stepped on the court and talked with New
York Liberty star Jonquel Jones, getting down in a defensive stance for a few
seconds on her.
"I feel like as a hooper, you know when someone's challenging you. So I was
just like, let me go over there with the basketball, you know, do a little
cross, bump him a little bit," Jones said. "And I knew that I would get him
activated a little because he's a hooper, too."
Jones said she had met Obama once before.
"He's a role model for me and it was nice to be able to have that moment,"
Jones said. "Someone that I look up to, someone that has paved the way for a
lot of people to be here and see him continuing, his family continuing to give
back to the community when they've already done so much is just so
inspirational."
That was the extent of his time on the court. He told the players that he
didn't play 5-on-5 anymore to protect his Achilles. He did say that he broke in
the court with a game of "horse."
Obama was the first sitting U.S. President to attend a WNBA game when he and
his daughter, Sasha, sat courtside in 2010 for a Washington Mystics game. He
also has hosted many of them at the White House after they either won WNBA
championships or NCAA titles.
Obama was gifted with a No. 44 WNBA All-Star jersey that the players were going
to autograph later.
This was the first professional sport to use the basketball court at the
center, which opened in June. Obama went to the NBA All-Star Game in Los
Angeles in February. Obama said he unfortunately wasn't going to be able to
make the All-Star Game on Saturday because of a previous engagement with his
wife, Michelle.
"It's fitting for our 30th anniversary that we're here as the first sports
league to play in the Obama Presidential Center," WNBA Commissioner Cathy
Engelbert said. "Someone who has inspired hundreds of millions of people to
dream big and accomplish things like President Obama has and his tie to
basketball is amazing, too. I think there's no more fitting person to be
meeting with the players."
After talking to the players, Obama went across the center to talk to a group
of investors in the league and nearly 100 high school girls to talk.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
|
