How Barack Obama's phone call with LeBron James and Chris Paul saved the NBA season

Last week, Barack Obama appeared on LeBron James' TV show The Shop. While both personalities have been focusing on increasing voter turnout, Obama coming on James' show was one last attempt together before the US Presidential elections on November 3. However, among other things discussed, LeBron James and Obama shared details about that one phone call that might have saved the NBA season. 

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According to Obama and James, they had a midnight phone call with National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) President Chris Paul, which helped them continue the season in Orlando. The phone called happened after the Milwaukee Bucks' boycott, triggered by Jacob Blake's shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 

"There was a time where we were ready to leave too -- the Lakers. Myself included, we were ready to leave," James said in the episode, highlighting how grave the situation was. James added that they wanted to support the Bucks and were trying to figure out a call of action. In the end, James added that he was lucky to know the 44th President, who he and Chris Paul could call. "And I'm lucky enough to have a friend that gave us those words of leadership and those words of saying".

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Obama explained that it was around midnight when Paul, James, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook were on call with him. "Protest is useful in terms of raising awareness, but given the power that the NBA players had, my suggestion was that we use that platform to see if you can start asking for some specifics," Obama explained. He lamented that this can't be a one-off, and undeniably happens "again and again". 

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The NBA and NBPA took Obama's advice, as days later, they had a justice coalition with players, coaches and team governors, working to improve access to voting. The season went on, while arenas and owners worked to allow venues as mass voting centres. All this while, Obama maintained that the issue will never be solved overnight, and will have to continue. He even mentioned James' More Than a Vote, which is working together with Michelle Obama's When We All Vote. 

In the end, Obama told them to "set up a more permanent structure" so they don't call end up calling him at midnight. He explained that while the "young brothers" are up until 3:00 AM, James himself might not think clearly at midnight when he is 59. "So we're going to try to have a little bit more organization ... we're going to plan ahead of time on these things."

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LeBron James impressed by the flawless Obama 3-pointer

(Image credits: AP)