An NBA champion will visit the White House for the first time during a Trump administration.

New York Knicks owner James Dolan has received and accepted an invitation to visit the White House and celebrate the team’s first championship in over 50 years.

“We just did receive an invitation from the White House, which we accepted,” Dolan said.

“Still have to figure out the details, but, yes, of course, I invited the president to come down to the game, right? He is a friend. I’ve known him for 30 years, and I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House,” he added.

President Trump made history earlier this month as the first sitting United States president to attend an NBA finals game.

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Fox News shared further:

President Donald Trump attended the Knicks’ Game 3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden. It turned out to be the only loss for the Knicks, who went on to win the NBA Championship Series 4-1.

The details of the Knicks’ visit have yet to be finalized. As Dolan noted, that includes a date for the trip, the size of the traveling party and how many players will attend.

And while the White House got to work immediately on the Knicks visiting, the Seahawks visit is apparently another matter.

Seattle beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, but the team visiting the White House for a celebration is in limbo.

“We don’t have anything to share at this time,” the White House press office told Fox News Digital this week. “Check back in with us later!”

Watch Dolan confirm the news below:

More from The New York Times:

In 2017, during his first term, Mr. Trump publicly sparred with players such as Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Mr. Curry, who helped lead the Golden State Warriors to an N.B.A. championship, said that he would not accept an invitation to visit the White House. In response, Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Twitter that the invitation was withdrawn.

The next year, the commissioner of the N.B.A., Adam Silver, told ESPN that he found a disparaging remark the president had made about immigration to be “discouraging.” In 2024, Mr. Silver donated thousands of dollars to Kamala Harris, Mr. Trump’s opponent in the general election, as well as to other Democrats. He also donated a few thousand dollars to Nikki Haley’s Republican presidential primary campaign.

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Mr. Dolan got married at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, he told ESPN in 2018, and defended the president in an interview last week with WFAN, calling him “a Knicks fan.” In that same interview, he attacked Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Jessica S. Tisch, the police commissioner, as fake Knicks fans and novices.

Mr. Trump often attended games at Madison Square Garden during the 1990s, when the team developed a reputation as a physical, tough-minded group and made the finals twice. He has praised the current team, including its star players Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, as it tore through the playoffs this spring.

During an interview on “Inside the NBA” on the Madison Square Garden court after Game 3, Mr. Silver described Mr. Trump’s visit as a unifying event. He touted Mr. Trump’s bona fides as a Knicks supporter.

“He was a fixture at Madison Square Garden,” Mr. Silver said. “He’s a genuine Knicks fan.”

 

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