The Oklahoma City Thunder will not make a traditional White House visit due to a timing issue, a team spokesperson said. The NBA team is scheduled to play the Washington Wizards on Saturday evening.
Despite discussions with the White House, the visit will not happen. "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 obtained by The Associated Press.
It was not immediately clear whether a formal invitation had been extended to the team.
The White House maintains a tradition of hosting U.S. professional sports championship teams, a practice that gained prominence during the Obama administration with regular NBA champion visits.[1]
Some teams have declined or seen invitations withdrawn in the past. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump said the Golden State Warriors, the NBA champions, would not be invited after guard Stephen Curry indicated he would not want to attend.[2]
The Oklahoma City Thunder are an NBA franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, competing in the Western Conference.[3] The Washington Wizards play in the Eastern Conference at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.[4]
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica / Wikipedia, "White House championship visits", accessed October 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_championship_visits
- Reuters, "Trump says Warriors not invited to White House after Curry vote", 20 September 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nba-warriors-whitehouse/trump-says-warriors-not-invited-to-white-house-after-curry-vote-idUSKCN1BV2K1
- NBA.com, "Oklahoma City Thunder", official team page, accessed October 2024, https://www.nba.com/thunder
- NBA.com, "Washington Wizards", official team page, accessed October 2024, https://www.nba.com/wizards
