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Bill Walton Suggests UCLA Should Look to Barack Obama as Next Basketball Coach
January 4, 2019
UCLA fired men's basketball head coach Steve Alford on Monday after a 7-6 start.
On Thursday, UCLA hosted Stanford in its Pac-12 opener, and Dave Pasch and Bill Walton of ESPN had the call. Pasch asked Walton, a former UCLA star with two NCAA championships, who he thought the next Bruins coach should be.
Walton offered the following response:
Former United States President Barack Obama is an ardent basketball fan who plays pickup hoops. He filled out men's and women's Division I NCAA tournament brackets on ESPN in the Oval Office.
Obama's brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, was also the head coach at Brown and Oregon State for eight seasons. He is now the New York Knicks' vice president of player development and G League operations.
Obama does have eight years of experience as the 44th President of the United States, but basketball coaches have a better shot despite Walton's wishes.
Walton isn't immune to making off-the-beaten-path comments, as noted by Charles Curtis of For the Win and Colin Warren-Hicks of the Herald-Sun.
His remark Thursday was no exception, but at least Walton makes the broadcasts entertaining.
