Caitlin Clark was in awe after meeting Barack Obama when the former president surprised the WNBA All-Stars on Friday at his Presidential Center in Chicago. The team practiced at the center's Home Court ahead of Saturday's All-Star game at the city's United Center, the Chicago Tribune reports. 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. "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, the AP reports. "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 before taking a group photo. Obama then spent about 10 minutes shaking hands with the players and taking photos with them, including Clark.
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. 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." 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 at a WNBA Changemaker Day event.
- Obama was the first sitting 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.
- This was the first professional sport to use the basketball court at the center. "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."
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