Since taking office, President Barack Obama has made no secret of being a basketball fan. The former high school hoops player never quit playing as he went through college, and eventually public service, and of his first moves as President was to convert the White House tennis court into a basketball court large enough for full court games. Throughout his term of office the President has demonstrated his continual love for the game through games of HORSE with Clark Kellogg and the annual tradition of picking a March Madness bracket. Now that Obama’s time in the White House is winding down, the 44th president may be looking to take the next step to get back into the game.
After making a popular comedic video with Vice-President Joe Biden suggesting that Obama did not know what he would do after leaving office, the President has been discussing the possibility of owning an NBA team.
The idea was first aired publicly in an interview by Bill Simmons that ran in GQ magazine last November. In response to a question asking if he would like to be part of an ownership of an NBA team, the President responded with ‘absolutely’.
With Obama’s direction for post-White House life still uncertain, White House press secretary Josh Earnest revealed in a Wednesday briefing that the President has shown interest in joining an NBA ownership group. While Earnest used the words “potentially, if the opportunity arose, under the right circumstances” to calm down any rumors of an immediate purchase, it is clear that the President has thought about this possibility more than once.
Obama would not be the first President to become involved with a professional sports team, George W. Bush was Managing General Partner of the Texas Rangers ownership group. But don’t necessarily expect Obama to jump into NBA ownership right away. NBA franchises are not sold very frequently, and Obama would need to assemble a large amount of partners, as the average NBA team is worth $624 million, approximately 53 times Obama’s net worth. In fact 14 of the 30 NBA owners are worth over $1 billion, so Obama’s reported net worth of $12.2 million will likely earn him only partial ownership.
While it is well known that Obama, a former Illinois Senator, is a die-hard Bulls fan, he may end up becoming a partner in another franchise. The Washington Wizards would make sense, as he has announced that he plans to live in Washington D.C. for the time being, but Obama’s overall love for the game seems to suggest that he would greatly enjoy owning any franchise.
If the pieces do fall into place it will be interesting to see how the President transitions from leader of the free world to leader of an NBA franchise.
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