It has been an exhausting run in the WNBA’s 30th anniversary season. Every shoe drop seems to crater the floor. One hour of media day player interviews, amid all the narratives afflicting the sport, felt like a long time to hold your breath. Then, at roughly 9:49 a.m., a slim figure in a white dress shirt and blue jeans walked onto the floor of a basketball court.
Here was Barack Obama, in lieu of drama. A visit meant as a surprise, though in retrospect hosting All-Star practices on the Obama Presidential Center campus was a strong tell. There were smiles. There were selfies. There was Jonquel Jones, dribbling over and into the 44th U.S. President, who promptly dropped into a stance and even got a deflection on a former Most Valuable Player.
“He was playing good ‘D,’” Jones said a few minutes later. “But I also went out last night. So I’m not in my best form right now.”
The overall operation, however, was for at least a few blessed hours in good, uneventful shape. Instead of crises, Caitlin Clark was advocating for a 5-point shot in the All-Star Game. Instead of outrage, there was an Angel Reese Barbie doll. For a day, the WNBA chose normal, and good gracious, what a relief.
Almost 200 games have been played already this season, not that you’d necessarily know, when there’s a furor over comments about transgender athletes or emergency meetings regarding player safety or kvetching about invites to skills competitions or more chapters written about embattled commissioner Cathy Engelbert. And that was just this week.
It’s wearying, even if certain matters at hand can’t be ignored. There is a way to experience this basketball organization without trivializing some very serious problems it has to solve.
At long last, everyone found it Friday. Ordinary won for a few hours at least.
In one single space, these things occurred:
Nneka Ogwumike, the president of the WNBA Players Association, eloquently reiterated the need to be proactive on issues like player harassment and stop attributing it to growing pains. “After a while, if you’re still experiencing those symptoms,” she said, “you have to do something to alleviate that type of pain.”
Also, Toronto Tempo guard Marina Mabrey declared that she would exchange a grilled cheese for a ride in Reese’s Rolls-Royce, Dallas Stars guard Paige Bueckers explained how much dirty laundry she accrues before she knows she must relent and do the dang laundry, and Philadelphia native Kahleah Copper offered an unsolicited recommendation to LeBron James, soon to be the newest member of the 76ers.
“I know you’re going to be playing in south Philly,” the Phoenix Mercury guard said, “but go down and get you a cheesesteak from Dalessandro’s.”
Maybe this is just what happens in a low-stakes environment like an All-Star weekend. A space a few steps removed from the withering onslaught of social media and craven agendas. Everyone exhales, deeply.
But it did happen. There was a balance. Maintaining it is maybe impossible outside of this moment, but it’s worth a shot, because the alternative can’t get any more aggravating. “Some of the stuff they deal with is ridiculous,” said Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, who will run Team Coop on Saturday night at the United Center. “What we do have in common is basketball, and a love for this league, and pushing this league forward, and promoting the excellence this league displays. Talk about that. Talk about that more.”
This wasn’t all attributable to a man who left the building right when the sun started cutting through the sheet of clouds – thanks, Obama – but the vibes suited that man’s appearance, and vice-versa. “It’s a good reminder for all of us,” Clark said. “Treat people with respect. Treat people with grace.”
No WNBA player is more scrutinized and weaponized than the Indiana Fever’s star point guard, when really all she’s ever done is be extremely good at basketball. Too many people seem incapable of taking her for who she is and what she can do, and only that. The WNBA has a bunch of loose wires to fix, and she’s a one-woman emblem of one of them.
Small wonder the former president made sure to introduce himself with a message captured by a videographer on the floor. “Don’t let all this nonsense get you down,” Obama told Clark. He told her to hang on to her joy, and then agreed to her request for a picture.
Obama: “You’re fantastic. Don’t let all this nonsense get you down…I didn’t get famous til I was like 45 I mean you’re my daughters age…so don’t lose that joy…and you’re a hooper.”
Caitlin: “I try sometimes.”
Obama: “No you’re always hooping and you’re on a nice little run.” pic.twitter.com/eMVO6j5kQg
— correlation (@nosyone4) July 24, 2026
“It’s a moment I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life,” Clark said. “My hands don’t usually get sweaty and clammy, but (they) did for that.”
All in all, Friday was refreshingly simple. The WNBA did normal, and it worked out great. A big group with big differences came together to celebrate in the shadow of a building with five-foot concrete letters near the roof that declare “We” to be the single most powerful word in this country. Everyone doing what makes them happy, and that was that.
For a while, it was nice to pretend.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
WNBA, Opinion
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