Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has occasionally teased the idea of running for President of the United States, and he even explored the possibility of running as an independent candidate in 2020.
During a recent episode of The Steam Room podcast, Hall of Famer and NBA analyst Charles Barkley floated the idea of potentially joining forces with Cuban on a presidential ticket. Ernie Johnson chimed in and asked if Barkley being on the ticket alongside him would heighten Cuban's interest in running for office.
"Yes, absolutely," said Cuban. "We'd win running away. No question about it."
"We'd win. We'd definitely win," declared Barkley.
It's unclear in this hypothetical which of the two would be named president and who would be vice president, though both maintained their belief that their ticket would be a successful one.
The conversation was brought on after Cuban mentioned Barkley would make a strong presidential candidate because of his ability to connect with different people.
"It takes somebody, in my mind, that will go out there and can just talk to anybody. Like Charles! Charles can talk to anybody and put himself in any circumstance and get along with everybody, and I think that's what we need," Cuban said when asked how division in the country could be curbed.
Barkley isn't the only sports media member to entertain the idea of running for office. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said in November that he'd consider running for president if he felt he had a legitimate shot at winning.
"I mean, I have no desire to be a congressional figure or a senator, but if you came to me and you told me I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States of America, I would definitely consider it," Smith told host Sunny Hostin on The View.
The idea of a Barkley-Cuban presidential ticket is certainly an intriguing thought, although it seems highly unlikely to ever come to fruition.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charles Barkley Says Presidential Ticket of Himself, Mark Cuban Would Win Election.
