Barack Obama and Josh Turek don’t agree on all issues.
But one thing they do agree on is who the two best basketball players of all time are.
The 44th president of the United States endorsed Iowa’s Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in a video released on Wednesday, July 29. In the video, Turek, a state representative from Council Bluffs and Paralympian who played wheelchair basketball for the United States, played Obama in a game of I-O-W-A — a twist on the classic basketball shooting game horse
The two also gave their Mount Rushmore, a popular trend online where users pick their top four people of any field, in this case, basketball players. Here’s what they came up with.
Who are Barack Obama and Josh Turek’s Mount Rushmore of basketball players?
Here is Obama’s Mount Rushmore of basketball players, which he mentioned in the endorsement video with Turek.
Turek agreed with Obama’s choices of Jordan and James, but he swapped Johnson for “Russell,” presumably meaning Celtics legend Bill Russell, and had Abdul-Jabbar at No. 4.
The former president’s Mount Rushmore has shifted slightly from his “favorite” five basketball players of all time, which he shared in October 2024 and featured Jordan, James, Stephen Curry, Hakeem Olajuwon and Kevin Durant.
Obama, who turns 65 in August, recently met with Iowan and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark during a practice session at the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago during WNBA All-Star Weekend. Clark told USA TODAY Sports the exchange with Obama is “a moment I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life.”
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Obama, Iowa U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek talk basketball GOATS
Reporting by Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
