GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — The New York Knicks are still deciding if they will become the first NBA champions to visit the White House under President Donald Trump, coach Mike Brown said Tuesday.
The president has traditionally invited the reigning champions, but that has not been the case under Trump. No team went during his first term or after he was elected again in 2024.
But Trump and Knicks owner James Dolan are close. They sat together when Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, and Dolan indicated after the Knicks won the championship that an offer would be accepted.
The Knicks held their first practice of the new season Tuesday and Brown was asked if there was a determination about a White House visit.
“No, it’s still something that our guys, or the organization, is internally discussing and, you know, whatever we decide to do, we’ll all do together,” Brown said.
The Boston Celtics made the first trip by a champion in 1963, and President Barack Obama, who is a basketball fan, hosted the winner every year he was in office.
But Trump has feuded with some NBA players, saying during the 2018 NBA Finals that he wouldn’t invite whichever team won, after Golden State’s Stephen Curry and LeBron James, then with the Cleveland Cavaliers, said their teams had no interest in a visit.
The 2025 champion Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t visit the White House last season, saying the timing did not work out.
Teams often try to arrange their visit when they are in Washington to play the Wizards. The Knicks are scheduled for those games on Dec. 18 and March 16.
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Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press
