In 2017, after the Warriors won the title and the league and the White House were discussing a visit, Stephen Curry said he would not attend prompting the president to bark back over Twitter: Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating. Invitation is withdrawn.
Soon, James shot back with a tweet in Currys defense. He called the president a bum, and added: Going to the White House was a great honor until you showed up!
Some teams did visit. But others skipped it, were not invited or had invitations rescinded when it became clear few players would attend. Since 2016, none of the W.N.B.A. champions have gone to the White House. Same for North Carolinas mens N.C.A.A. championship basketball team, South Carolinas title-winning womens basketball team and the 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. I could go on.
Trump was left with narrowing opportunities to play host. He feted the Alabama and Clemson football teams, and a few champions from mostly white, conservative-leaning sports like baseball and hockey. For a while, he could count on the New England Patriots, whose owner, Robert K. Kraft, and coach, Bill Belichick, are Trump supporters. After winning the Super Bowl at the end of the 2016 season, however, nearly half of the players steered clear of the White House. And when New England was victorious again two years later, the team didnt visit at all.
So much for the days of easy communion.
It has been four hard years since that day of awe and tension in the White House. Will James, now having led the Los Angeles Lakers to the 2020 title, return with his new team to visit President Biden? Bank on it. Expect the W.N.B.A.s Seattle Storm, who conquered their league title this year and endorsed Biden, to do the same, along with teams that didnt back a candidate but focused instead on boosting voter registration and turnout.
But with large swaths of the country arguing, without evidence, that last weeks election was stolen, will conservative champions or players begin turning down visits to the Biden White House? Thats not hard to imagine.
It is impossible to say what will happen in future presidencies, with future generations of athletes. But for now, sadly, we can assume that the Rose Garden celebration of champions, once a chance to cast aside differences and revel together in greatness, will limp forward, scarred and fractured, same as America.read more
Even With a New President, Sports at the White House Won’t Be the Same
