Barack Obama joins NBA Africa as strategic partner and minority owner
Former President Barack Obama has joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner and minority owner, sources have told ESPN’s The Undefeated on Tuesday.
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NBA Africa conducts the league’s business on that continent, including most notably the new Basketball Africa League (BAL). Obama plans to help the league’s social responsibility efforts, including programs and partnerships across the continent that support greater gender equality and economic inclusion. He will also have a minority equity stake in NBA Africa, which he intends to use to fund Obama Foundation youth and leadership programs across Africa.
“The NBA has always been a great ambassador for the United States — using the game to create deeper connections around the world, and in Africa, basketball has the power to promote opportunity, wellness, equality, and empowerment across the continent,” Obama said in a statement. “By investing in communities, promoting gender equality and cultivating the love of the game of basketball, I believe that NBA Africa can make a difference for so many of Africa’s young people.”
The previous auction record was held by President Barack Obama. A No. 23 jersey worn by Obama his senior year at Punahou School as a member of the 1979 Hawaii State Champion boys’ varsity team sold for $192,000 in 2020.
Keith Smith: Looks like Jaylen Brown spent some time with some interesting company today! pic.twitter.com/VyWXlF9yiv
A couple weeks ago, he did something he never will forget. Steve Kerr had the privilege of playing a round of golf at Pebble Beach with the 44th President of the United States — Barack Obama. “Thrill of a lifetime. Thrill of a lifetime,” the Warriors coach said this week on The Rex Chapman Show with Josh Hopkins. “And then having dinner afterwards with him. Basically a full day. We had the most amazing day. Just to hear him talk. To talk world events and then seamlessly go into the nuances of the pick-and-roll in the NBA … he’s incredible. I was so lucky.”
Basketball Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal joined former president Barack Obama on an NBC special Sunday night to encourage Americans to get COVID-19 vaccines. The former NBA players — who have remained highly visible through their roles as analysts for “Inside the NBA” on TNT — exchanged humorous barbs and briefly spoke with O’Neal’s mother before Obama joined them. “So I’m playing Kenny the Jet,” Obama joked when he joined the duo, in reference to Kenny Smith, who is an analyst alongside Barkley and O’Neal on “Inside the NBA.”
