After conducting a string of interviews for television stations in swing states, President Obama was driven by motorcade to a large Chicago gym at 1 p.m. to play basketball, an Election Day tradition, with friends and staff.

The game, played in a 65,000-square-foot facility that recently was bought at auction, included Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Reggie Love, the president’s former personal assistant; Marty Nesbitt, one of Obama’s closest friends; and former Chicago Bulls players Scottie Pippen and Randy Brown.

The sprawling facility in Chicago’s West Side, formerly called Attack Athletics, has four full-size courts and seating for 1,000 people. The public and reporters were not allowed inside.


The gym’s developer, Tim Grover, has trained former Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. The facility was bought at foreclosure Oct. 16 and is being donated to the nearby Chicago Hope Academy, a nondenominational Christian high school.