Michelle Obama says picking partner like a basketball team is key to successful marriage: 'You want LeBron'

Former first lady says goal is to be able to say: 'I have married LeBron. My version of LeBron'

Michelle Obama has revealed the sports-inspired dating advice she believes is key to finding your perfect partner.

On Wednesday, the former first lady discussed love, dating and marriage with Conan O’Brien on her podcast The Michelle Obama Podcast, where she encouraged viewers to look at marriage like picking a basketball team.

“I always thought, you know, if we approached a marriage and family like we approached, particularly, men, like you would, picking your basketball team, we'd have better marriages, because if you're looking at a team, the people you want to win with, then number one you want everybody on your team to be strong, right,” Ms Obama said.

She continued: “You don't want any weak links, you don't want somebody that you can dominate, you don't want somebody who's kind of a loser, right. And also, if you're on a team, you've got to be able to do everything, especially in basketball, it's like, you would never pick somebody that says ‘I only dribble. I don’t shoot, I don't defend, I just dribble.’

“If we looked at marriage as a real team, then you want LeBron, you don’t want the guy, third row on the bench who didn’t make the team. But we often don’t think about that,” she added, referring to NBA star LeBron James.

Ms Obama’s analogy prompted O’Brien to joke: “Now you've got me thinking about marrying LeBron. This is taking a turn.”

But, according to the former first lady, the goal is to be able to say: “I have married LeBron. My version of LeBron.”

During the episode, Ms Obama, who has been married to Barack Obama since 1992, also reflected on what dating the former president was like, explaining that it didn’t feel immature like previous relationships.

“Once we started talking and became friends, he was very clear, like, I want to date you. At least in my experience, up until then, men would be coy, they would, you know, sort of look around the room, it was all so complicated, and it felt a little immature,” she recalled, adding that she was impressed by her future husband’s “lack of pretence”.

“What struck me about Barack was his lack of pretence, I mean, he was somebody who knew what he wanted, and wasn't afraid to say it,” she said.