--- title: Barack Obama Endorsed to Be the New UCLA Basketball Coach description: Retired NBA player Bill Walton endorsed President Barack Obama for the UCLA Bruins basketball coach position. It's not the craziest idea canonical: https://time.com/5494222/barack-obama-ucla-coach/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-04T18:09:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:12.189Z og:title: Barack Obama Got an Endorsement to Be a Basketball Coach og:description: Former NBA star Bill Walton thinks the former president is fit for the open gig og:url: https://time.com/5494222/barack-obama-ucla-coach/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama Got an Endorsement to Be a Basketball Coach twitter:description: Former NBA star Bill Walton thinks the former president is fit for the open gig twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Barack Obama Got an Emphatic Endorsement to Be the New UCLA Basketball Coach > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Barack Obama Helps Chicago Food Bank Workers in Thanksgiving Surprise Visit [Watch (HLS stream): Barack Obama Helps Chicago Food Bank Workers in Thanksgiving Surprise Visit](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/u9b8mHPy.m3u8) (0:34)  _Published 2018-11-22. The former president gave workers a Thanksgiving surprise when he popped in to help out._ by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Jan 4, 2019 6:09 PM UTC by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Jan 4, 2019 6:09 PM UTC [President Obama’s](http://time.com/5489775/barack-obama-favorites-list-2018/) most recent mention came from a less than likely place: ESPN. ESPN analyst Bill Walton—who played for the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Boston Celtics throughout his career—told ESPN’s Dave Pasch that President Obama was the best option to coach the UCLA Bruins. Walton knows a little something about the Bruins’ expectations, considering the basketball legend led the team to two national championship wins in the 1970s. “What type of characteristics should UCLA look for in the next coach?” Pasch asked the retired NBA player. “Barack Obama,” Walton replied. Pasch seemed skeptical about the suggestion, saying, “I don’t think he’s gonna coach.” But Walton, who was inducted into the Basketball of Fame in 1993, did not back down, characterizing Pasch’s hesitation as “negative.” “I’m sticking with Barack Obama until he says no,” Walton asserted. President Obama has [always loved the sport](http://time.com/4818612/obama-kevin-durant-on-nba-championship/), and even had the White House’s tennis court [converted to be used as a full basketball court](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/interactive-tour/basketball-court), too. His brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, who is [Michelle Obama](http://time.com/5489158/michelle-obama-most-admired-woman/)‘s older brother, has coached professionally since 1999. It’s not Walton’s first time bringing politics to the court. He [made headlines in the ’70s](https://people.com/archive/bill-walton-leaves-the-radical-lefts-all-star-team-and-makes-the-one-in-pro-basketball-vol-7-no-8/) when he played for Portland while using his celebrity for political and social advocacy, speaking out in opposition of nuclear power plants and raising money for Native Americans. The permanent UCLA head coach position is yet to be filled. Watch the full video of Walton’s Obama endorsement, and see some reactions, below. > [](https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1081044206817345548) > [](https://twitter.com/postmabone1/status/1081045713666990080) > [](https://twitter.com/ftrump19/status/1081046133789605888) > [](https://twitter.com/MichaelsenRyan/status/1081065779108315136) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5494222/barack-obama-ucla-coach/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5494222/barack-obama-ucla-coach/"},"headline":"Barack Obama Got an Emphatic Endorsement to Be the New UCLA Basketball Coach","datePublished":"2019-01-04T18:09:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:12.189Z","description":"Former NBA star Bill Walton thinks the former president is fit for the open gig","url":"https://time.com/5494222/barack-obama-ucla-coach/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Basketball","Sports"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel E. 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