New on Sports Illustrated: Barack Obama to Appear on LeBron James's 'The Shop'

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Obama will be featured on Friday night's episode on HBO.

Former President Barack Obama will be featured on the latest episode of LeBron James's HBO show The Shop: Uninterrupted on Friday.

The special edition show, which was produced under COVID-19 guidelines, will feature a conversation with Obama, James and his business partner Maverick Carter. They will discuss the NBA bubble, the racial justice movement, voting and the presidential election. 

"Two years ago, LeBron and Maverick created a unique forum with 'The Shop,'" said Nina Rosenstein, executive vice president of HBO Programming in a release. "Their conversation with President Obama is candid, compelling and urgently relevant."

Before leading the Lakers to their latest NBA title, James was part of a

small group of NBA players that received advice from Obama in August as they decided on how to proceed with the season amid on-going social justice protests.

Their conversation came shortly after the Bucks elected to sit out Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Magic on Oct. 26 to protest the police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. 

"I commend the players on the Bucks for standing up for what they believe in, coaches like Doc Rivers, and the NBA and WNBA for setting an example. It’s going to take all our institutions to stand up for our values," Obama said in an Oct. 26 tweet.

The players later voted to resume the 2020 playoffs, and ESPN reported Obama was in favor of the players returning to the court once they were able to work with the owners to implement actionable change items. 

Friday's episode of The Shop: Uninterrupted will air at 9 p.m. ET on Friday on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

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