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Until the 2026-27 season tips off, the summer continues to be the New York Knicks' opportunity to celebrate.
While most of the Knicks' celebrations came in the days following their championship, from a New York City parade to players' appearances on plenty of late-night shows and TV interviews, champions in North American professional sports also often receive invitations to the White House.
Last month, Knicks owner James Dolan, a friend of President Donald Trump's, indicated that his team would be heading to D.C. at some point - but with star guard Jalen Brunson's latest comments, that doesn't appear to be a set-in-stone plan yet.
Here's the latest on the Knicks' potential plans to visit the White House after winning the NBA title.
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What did Jalen Brunson say about a potential Knicks White House visit?
In an interview with Variety released on Monday, Brunson talked about everything from Taylor Swift's attendance at Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals to the status of his wrist injury. One of the key takeaways, however, was the topic of New York's potential White House plans.
Brunson said that as a team, the Knicks haven't yet discussed whether or not they'd head to D.C. to visit Trump at the White House.
"That's something that we actually haven't discussed as a team," Brunson told Variety. "And so obviously, people are making assumptions and saying everything, but together we haven't discussed it yet. And so we'll cross our bridge when we get to it."
Brunson was also informed in the interview that if the Knicks do accept an invitation to the White House, they'd become the first NBA team to do so under Donald Trump's administration. He replied, per Variety, by saying: "Interesting… Interesting."
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What did James Dolan say about a potential White House visit?
In June, shortly after the Knicks beat the Spurs to win their first title in 53 years, team owner James Dolan said during a radio interview that the team had already accepted an invitation from the White House.
"We just did receive an invitation from the White House, which we accepted," Dolan said, per The Athletic. "We still have to figure out the details."
Additionally, the White House confirmed that it had been in touch with the Knicks and looked forward to hosting the team "at a date to be determined in the near future," according to The Athletic.
Trump attended Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, sitting in a suite with Dolan, who has long been connected to the president as a friend and donor to his campaigns.
Has a championship team ever declined a White House invitation?
There have been previous instances where an entire team declined to make a visit to the White House, typically citing scheduling conflicts. In other instances, groups of players decided not to attend while the rest of their team did.
During Trump's first administration, the 2017 Golden State Warriors had an invitation withdrawn after Stephen Curry expressed disinterest, then they were not invited in 2018. The 2017 UNC Tar Heels refused a White House invitation due to coach Roy Williams' criticisms of the president. After winning the Super Bowl in 2017 and 2019, the New England Patriots did accept an invitation to the White House, but multiple players did not attend, with quarterback Tom Brady citing personal reasons. The 2018 Philadelphia Eagles had their invite revoked by Trump with the possibility of a boycott from players, while the 2018 Washington Capitals had three players choose not to join the team at the White House.
In 2023 under president Joe Biden, the Georgia Bulldogs did not attend the White House due to scheduling conflicts, while the same happened with the NBA's Denver Nuggets in 2024.
During the second Trump administration, a total of 12 Eagles players did not join the rest of the team in celebration of their February 2025 Super Bowl win. The WNBA's New York Liberty, meanwhile, did not receive an invitation and instead met with former president Barack Obama. Following the 2026 Winter Olympics, the women's U.S. hockey team declined an invitation while citing scheduling conflicts, while five members of the men's U.S. hockey team did not attend the rest of the squad's visit to the White House.
Most recently, the Oklahoma City Thunder cited scheduling conflicts when declining a visit to the White House in March 2026, while college football's champion, the Indiana Hoosiers, did make an appearance in D.C., but without quarterback Fernando Mendoza as he cited his new obligations to the Las Vegas Raiders.
There has never been an NBA champion to attend a White House visit under Trump's administration; the three most recent attendees (2021 Bucks, 2022 Warriors, 2024 Celtics) came under the Biden administration.
