The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to visit the White House as part of the team’s post-championship celebration after president-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office as the 46th president of the United States, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Historically, teams visit the president at the Oval Office the season after winning a championship when their team travels to Washington to play the Wizards.
The Lakers and Wizards do not play each other during the first half of the NBA’s schedule, meaning that any potential visit would likely take place in the yet-to-be-released second half. The timing of when the Lakers make that trip, Biden’s schedule and what COVID-19 protocols would be for a White House visit are variables being taken into consideration by Los Angeles, Haynes reported.
No NBA team visited the White House during the Trump administration.
The Golden State Warriors were the first to break with the post-championship tradition in 2017. At the time, president Donald Trump took to Twitter when it was becoming obvious the reigning champs were likely going to pass on his invite and revoked it.
“Not surprised,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He was going to break up with us before we could break up with him.”
Instead of a White House visit, the Warriors spent part of their Washington trip meeting with former president Barack Obama.
The last time an NBA team visited the White House was in 2016, when the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers visited Obama and then-vice president Biden.
The ceremonial transfer of power between outgoing president Trump and Biden, who James endorsed as a presidential candidate during the campaign, takes place on Jan. 20.
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