CHICAGO — The first professional athletes to set foot on the basketball court at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center got a welcome from the building’s namesake. Former President Barack Obama walked onto the floor unannounced Friday morning before the WNBA All-Star practice, addressed all 22 All-Stars, and then worked the room like a man who has done this before.
Obama praised the league’s trajectory — “the way the game has been going lately, the way it’s been picking up, and people paying attention to your excellence” — before ribbing the players for what he saw. “This doesn’t look like the toughest practice I’ve ever seen,” he said. “But it’s All-Star break, y’all aren’t supposed to be working too hard.”
He shook every player’s hand. He posed for photos. He dropped into a defensive stance against New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones, then wisely declined to go further. “I don’t run full court no more to protect my Achilles,” he joked.
The conversation that landed was the one with Caitlin Clark.
“You are fantastic. Don’t let all this nonsense get you down,” Obama told the Indiana Fever guard, a moment captured by NBC Chicago. “Don’t lose that joy. The game is like, the game. And you are a hooper… you are always hooping. And you are on a nice little run right now.”
Clark, 24 and in her third WNBA season, described the exchange to reporters as “super cool.” Obama, who spent eight years in the White House press crucible, offered a frame of reference that only he can provide: “When I got famous in my 40s, I didn’t have to do it in my 20s.”
“Sometimes people don’t always realize I’m 24 years old, and I’m trying to navigate a lot of different things while trying to play basketball at the same time,” Clark said. “It was cool to hear that from him. And I think, honestly, it was probably a good reminder for all of us, treating people with respect, treating people with grace.”
She told USA TODAY Sports the exchange was “a moment I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life.” Her palms, she said, were “pretty sweaty and clammy.” Not much makes Clark nervous — she posted the first 45-point, 10-assist double-double in WNBA history last week — but a former president managed it.
Clark motioned for Fever teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston to join her for a group photo with Obama. Angel Reese, now with the Atlanta Dream after two seasons with the Chicago Sky, came away with a selfie and a grin. Reese’s foundation has an ongoing partnership with the Obama Foundation, and she recently appeared on Michelle Obama’s “IMO” podcast.
WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike watched Obama move through the gym. “You can tell he’s always been a hooper,” she said. “It doesn’t leave his blood.”
The Obama Presidential Center opened on Chicago’s South Side in June. Its basketball court — a separate 60,000-square-foot building with a WNBA-regulation floor — was christened by Obama with a game of H.O.R.S.E., which he admitted he lost. Friday’s practice was the first full-scale professional event held on the court.
Obama told the players he would not be able to attend Saturday night’s All-Star Game at the United Center. The weekend continues with Friday’s 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge at Wintrust Arena, followed by the game itself on ABC and Disney+.
Clark will not participate in the 3-Point Contest. She will start for Team Spoon, coached by Cheryl Reeve, alongside A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, Olivia Miles, and Jessica Shepard. She enters the break carrying seven technical fouls — one shy of an automatic suspension — and the kind of scrutiny that prompted a former president to walk across a gym floor and tell her to keep her joy.
Sources
- Yahoo Sports / USA TODAY
- Yahoo Sports
- CBS Sports
- Yahoo Sports / The Sporting News
- Yahoo Sports / For The Win