Time is winding down on President Obama's time in the White House. Come January 2017, this POTUS will just be another unemployed man in America.
That naturally inspires questions of what Obama plans to do with his time. He'll undoubtedly remain involved in diplomacy and charitable efforts, just like most living presidents, but there's another line of work that he has his eye on: NBA ownership.
In an interview with GQ, Obama admits that he "absolutely" wants to be part of an NBA team's ownership group someday in the future.
The natural pairing would be for Obama to purchase the Chicago Bulls, his favorite team of any sport. But as the president points out, the team isn't exactly up for sale.
"Well, you know, I know [Chicago Bulls owner Jerry] Reinsdorf pretty good -- he's not giving that thing up anytime soon," Obama says. "But I have fantasized about being able to put together a team and how much fun that would be. I think it'd be terrific."
If Obama does actually want to own part of an NBA team, though, he should expect a pretty small slice of the pie. According to Forbes, his net worth is only around $7 million -- a pretty solid figure, to be sure, but far less than the hundreds of millions, and more likely billions, required to own an NBA. Forbes values the Bulls at about $2 billion, so Obama could really only afford a fraction of a percent -- and that's only if Reinsdorf were willing to give him a piece.
Still, it's very possible that a team would want to share a small stake in exchange for the PR benefits of partnering with a former U.S. president. We'll see which team, if any, bring Obama into the fold once his days as president are over.
