(AFP) – The reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder won’t visit the White House while in Washington to play the Wizards on Saturday, citing a “timing” issue, The Athletic reported Friday.
“We have been in touch with the White House and we are appreciative and grateful for the communication we have had, but the timing just didn’t work,” the Thunder told The Athletic in a statement. The team did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
NBA champion teams have been visiting the White House since the Boston Celtics made the trip in 1963, although the 2024 Celtics were the last to make such a visit, to then-president Joe Biden’s White House in November of that year. The topic of triumphant teams visiting the White House has become politically charged in recent years.
When several Golden State Warriors players expressed misgivings about a possible White House reception after winning the title in 2017, President Donald Trump tweeted that the invitation had been withdrawn. The Warriors weren’t invited when they won in 2018 but visited Biden’s White House to celebrate their 2022 championship.
Various teams, including the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles in 2018, declined invitations or had invitations rescinded in Trump’s first term. But Trump hailed the Eagles as “incredible” when they celebrated their 2025 Super Bowl victory at the White House last year.
More recently, the US men’s gold medal-winning Olympic ice hockey team was feted at the White House before attending Trump’s State of the Union Address. Trump also invited the gold medal-winning US women’s hockey team, but they cited “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments” in declining.
Trump had sparked criticism when he was heard in a congratulatory phone call to the men’s team in Milan say he would “probably be impeached” if he didn’t invite the women’s team as well.
© 2024 AFP
