The Oklahoma City Thunder will skip the White House visit that traditionally takes place when the reigning NBA champions visit Washington. The Thunder will play the Wizards at Capital One Arena on Saturday, and a team spokesperson told The Athletic’s Joel Lorenzi that they’d been in touch with the White House about a visit, but a “timing issue” got in the way.
“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 out,” the spokesperson told The Athletic in a statement.
This will not be the first time that the NBA champs have not visited the White House during a Donald Trump presidency. The Golden State Warriors didn’t go after winning the 2017 title and were not invited after winning the 2018 title. The Toronto Raptors did not visit after winning the 2019 title, either. (Championship teams based in Canada do not always visit the White House, but there is precedent: The Blue Jays did it in 1992.)
Several players on Oklahoma City’s roster visited the White House during Joe Biden’s presidency. In November 2022, the team went there for a tour, discussion and partial screening of a documentary about its after-school program in Tulsa.
The Los Angeles Lakers did not visit The White House after winning the 2020 title, citing COVID-19 protocols. The 2021 champion Milwaukee Bucks, the 2022 champion Warriors and the 2024 champion Boston Celtics did their customary White House visits, but the 2023 champion Denver Nuggets didn’t. The Nuggets cited scheduling issues on the White House’s end.