When Bill Clinton sat courtside at Chicago Bulls Games in the ’90s, or Barack Obama filled out his March Madness brackets on national television, it was clear that basketball had found its way into the highest offices of American politics. These weren’t mere photo opportunities – they represented genuine connections between the world of politics and the NBA. Now, after a long period, the bridge between politics and the NBA has again been joined as Vice President Kamala Harris demonstrated by her remarkable encounter with NBA veteran Stephen Jackson.

During a recent episode of “The Big Podcast,“ Shaquille O’Neal prompted Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson to share their experience interviewing the Vice President. “I just looked at it from a certain spot and obviously you know understanding your core audience and how lot of people don’t like to mix politics and sports. I’m someone that is into politics but also respect you know that the people that have started to follow us and just saw it as an opportunity,” said Barnes during the podcast.

Initially, Jackson was visibly disengaged. As Barnes revealed, Jackson’s reluctance was evident from the moment they arrived at the VP’s residence. “Jack was a hard-a** literally up until the interview. Jack wasn’t f****ing it, sunglasses on in the VP’s house. Sitting in the corner, super uninterested,” revealed Barnes. However, the 46-year-old former shooting guard gave an apt reason for his unwillingness.

“It was the what probably the most trying week for me and my brother here. I don’t like politics and he’s [Matt Barnes] really good at politics, he knows a lot about it. So I didn’t wanna do it because I didn’t want to be involved. You know that a lot of people that support me don’t understand politics like I don’t understand and don’t really care to understand. But being my brother and being that you know, I trust the guys I have a company with and they are my brothers I opened my mind to certain things. And I did. I’m kind of happy that I did the interview now,” said Jackson during the podcast.

However, what could have been a strained interaction transformed into a meaningful exchange through Harris’s intuitive understanding of human connection. The Vice President, demonstrating remarkable emotional intelligence, recognized that the way to reach Jackson wasn’t through political discourse but through a shared appreciation for history and culture.

“She came in and took us away from everybody, the cameras and everything and kind of started showing us around the house and these particular art pieces and everything and so she shows us a couple of pieces and they were by black artists and she teamed up with some museum and so the first couple piece Jack’s like and then there’s one piece that caught Jack’s eye and after she was done talking about it, me and her moved on but Jack went up to the piece and kind of looked at it and touched it,” the former Sacramento Kings star mentioned reminiscing how Harris intrigued Jackson.

“I was like oh she got him… So I really shout her out because I think she kind of knew that Jack wasn’t really engaged. But I think that was kind of her goal to be like let me see, if I can get this dude and she got him,” added Barnes.

What makes this interaction particularly noteworthy is how it exemplifies the power of genuine human connection in bridging divides. However, even though the Vice president was able to win Jackson’s attention, she was still hurt by one NBA fact.

The reason that ‘Broke’ Kamala Harris’ heart

An interview with NBA veterans without an NBA talk remains incomplete. So was the case during the Kamala Harris interview but it wasn’t a very joyous fact. Throughout their years in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors have moved arenas several times. Starting from Philadelphia to San Fransico, then Oakland, and now in San Francisco again.

It goes without saying that the Warriors had the best stint of their franchise while they were in Oakland and Kamala Harris being a native of Oakland remembers this. However, during the special episode of ‘All the Smoke‘ podcast, Harris revealed the reason why she was left heartbroken.

“It breaks my heart, it breaks my heart. Remember we used to have all of them…You know when you just drive by that area, when I go to Oakland, when I go to the Bay Area. If you land at Oakland Airport and just pass the Coliseum, it is, it breaks my heart,” said Harris during the podcast.

Moreover, the Warriors weren’t the only great team that left Oakland but in 2010, the NFL team Oakland Raiders also left the place for Las Vegas. The Vice President’s comments highlight a broader concern about the impact of team relocations that are left on the viewers. Now in the end it can be said, that even after not being so involved with the NBA the VP has still a likeness for the sport.