Oklahoma City will not be visiting White House to celebrate championship
The Thunder are in Washington this weekend but "the timing just didn’t work out."
The Oklahoma City Thunder are in our nation's capital this weekend for a game against the Washington Wizards, but the Thunder players will not be visiting the White House to celebrate their title last June, reports Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic. "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 Thunder said in a statement shared with The Athletic. President Donald Trump is in Washington for part of Friday, but according to his official schedule, he is flying to Mar-a-Lago in Florida later in the day and will not be around for the weekend.
There was a long tradition of the champions of the United States' major professional sports teams visiting the White House to celebrate their accomplishment, regardless of which party was in power at the time. However, in our deeply divided nation right now, that tradition has gone out the window (like many others). For example, after the recent Milan Cortina Olympics, the USA Gold Medal winning men's hockey team did visit President Trump to celebrate their dramatic win, but the USA Gold Medal winning women declined that request.
With the NBA, during President Trump's first term, the 2017 Golden State Warriors refused an invitation to visit (or, as the White House would have it, had their invitation revoked). Other teams in other sports have followed suit. The Boston Celtics visited President Biden after their 2024 win, but the Thunder will not be going this year.