During the March 1 edition of Bill Simmons’ “The BS Report” podcast on ESPN.com, President Barack Obama offered his thoughts on the state of American sports — including the Chicago Bulls, a possible college football playoff system and his favorite character from “The Wire.”
The president offered his thoughts on former Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan, and revealed that a check to his 2004 Senate campaign may have been Jordan’s first political donation.
“You know Michael ended up — obviously I was just a fan but when I ran for the United States Senate, we had some mutual friends and Michael ended up supporting me. I think I may have been like his first political check ever. And so we’ve been friends.”
Obama also said he thinks Jordan was the greatest NBA player of all time,
“You got to go with Jordan,” Obama said emphasizing it wasn’t just a hometown Chicago pick. “That’s an NBA pick. You never had a combination of talent and fierce will to win, and longevity, and rising to the occasion. I haven’t seen it. You know, you got guys who are comparable in terms of talent. I mean, I think Lebron [James] is as talented as Michael is. I think you got guys like [Larry] Bird — Bird or Magic [Johnson], who had that same will to win. But combining that package and then just being there at the moment, very rarely not hitting that shot at the end like Utah.”
The president said he can relate to those athletes, especially being the first African-American president.
“I think they know that I take a great interest in them,” he said. “I think they understand what it is to compete. I think they took some pride in the first African-American president. And I can talk basketball with them.”
Obama went on to explain how he told Chris Paul of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers to tell his teammate Blake Griffin “to take that 12-15 footer when he gets it” without hesitation, which he said could be part of making him one of the best power forwards of all time.