Barack Obama has set tongues wagging after revealing plans to boycott a particular high-profile sporting event.
The former United States President is a big-time basketball fan, but he is no longer interested in the NBA All-Star Game.
Obama was a recent guest on the new ‘Young Man and the Three’ podcast, which is no longer hosted by JJ Reddick, given his coaching endeavors. So he sat down with Tyrese Haliburton and Tommy Alter this week to discuss various basketball topics, including his disenchantment with the annual event.
The ex-POTUS bemoaned the lack of competitiveness at the game every year, comparing it to the days when the likes of Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Isiah Thomas were involved.
“Y’all gotta have a little more pride in that All-Star Game,” he said. “It’s not as if you all don’t play pickup during the summers. You know how to play in a way that, ‘alright, I’m not going to hurt anybody, I’m not going to take anybody out.’ But that All-Star Game, it’s broke, man. People aren’t running, trying all kinds of [stuff].
“When Kobe [Bryant], Michael [Jordan] and Isiah [Thomas] were playing, they weren’t playing like it was the regular season, but they wanted to win.”
“Y’all got to have a little more pride in that All-Star Game… It’s an insult to the game.” -Obama confronts Tyrese about the NBA All Star Game pic.twitter.com/ynmGQaJfBm
— TheYoungManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) October 23, 2024
Barack Obama Had Everyone In Agreement
Obama also declared he wouldn’t be watching the All-Star Game anymore unless something changed.
“This is your business,” he offered. “This is your product. You don’t want people thinking you’re all out there just half-a**ed.”
“Good on Barack for saying that right to his face, he is completely right as well the players treat the game like a joke,” a fan commented.
“First time I ever heard Obama curse but he’s absolutely correct,” another added.
“No matter where you stand politically, this is something we can all get behind. Good for you, Obama,” said a third.
All it takes is 1 player to play hard and start embarrassing others and those mfers pride will kick in. You steal the ball from someone and dunk on their heads and they’ll start playing D. Just takes 1 young guy like ja morant to change it.
— Neeko 🥑 (@NeekoC18) October 23, 2024
The NBA has tried to address this by changing the game’s format, and it appeared things might trend positively a few years ago. However, the All-Star Game has reverted to being a bore, with many fans skipping it yearly.
