Gov. Josh Shapiro talks faith, family and fundamentals of basketball with Jay Wright

If there’s one thing a candidate needs to check off their list before running for president, it's to go on a national book tour. 

And if there’s one thing Josh Shapiro and Jay Wright have in common, it’s a love of basketball. 

Those two worlds collided at Villanova on Saturday, where Shapiro, who is running for reelection and is frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for president in 2028, and Wright, the former Wildcats basketball head coach who won two national championships during his time at Villanova, discussed the central themes of Shapiro’s book as part of his memoir-touting trip – a move seen as another precursor to a Shapiro 2028 run.  

Inside a packed house at the John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts, just over a dozen miles away from where Shapiro kicked off his reelection campaign in a Northwest Philadelphia youth basketball facility, Shapiro went into detail on his political background, including his vice presidential consideration, and the arson attack on the governor’s residence that occurred on April 13, 2025. 

In his recently published memoir, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service,” Shapiro blends his priorities of faith, fatherhood and marriage with his political life. The word “faith” appears nearly 100 times throughout the book. 

During his discussion with Wright on Saturday, he opened up about the inspiration for the book's title and how the arson attack offered a different version of “the light” he seeks to provide. 

“This whole book is a story about how I struggle as a dad to feel like I’m there enough for my kids,” Shapiro said Saturday. “I’m working hard at my job. I’m working hard at doing the thing that I swore an oath to do for other people, and yet I struggle every day: Was I there enough for my kids? Did I do enough? Did I make enough of their games? Did I make enough of their events? I don’t think that that's dissimilar to people in other fields.”

The “light,” Shapiro continued, was brought into question after the arson attack that forced him to rethink his political career and what his family was going through due to his public service. 

“There’s an emotional toll (that implied and actual political violence) takes, so much so that when we were deciding whether or not I’d run for reelection this was a family meeting – a family conversation – we all had to be in on it,” Shapiro said. “They were all in because we can’t let the bad guys win– we can’t let those who are trying to intimidate good people from doing this work prevail. We’ve got to stay in the arena.”

Shapiro also discussed how his faith and Jewish heritage have taught him about the “commonality” that different religions and people share at the end of the day – a point driven home during the Q&A portion that followed the conversation. When asked by a librarian in the audience which book he wished he could read again for the first time, Shapiro answered: the Bible.

“I think there are so many common through lines for all faiths that I certainly couldn’t understand when I was growing up,” he said. “I think I have a better perspective on life now, to be able to appreciate the Bible in a deeper way and in a way that’s less focused on my faith and my own religion, and more focused on a shared faith.”

To close out the conversation, Shapiro and Wright discussed teambuilding and what it means to be a team player, particularly in politics. 

Shapiro, who played point guard throughout high school, displayed a floor general mentality, saying that everyone on the team – no matter their role – must commit to their job, and the outcome will take care of itself. 

“To me, the game of basketball is beautiful, and teams win when every single player, every coach – even the players on the bench who don’t have a role on the floor – each operates at their highest level,” Shapiro said. “I think my job is to get the most out of myself and all the people around me so we can be successful for others, to not let the emotion of the moment, the chaos of the situation, grip you, but to find calm, be centered in everybody operating at their high level, and then good things are going to happen.”