The New York Knicks are heading to the White House.
Following their historic NBA championship victory on Saturday, June 13, Knicks owner James Dolan confirmed that his team received an invitation from the White House, where they are expected to meet President Donald Trump.
“We just did receive an invitation from the White House, which we accepted,” Dolan said during an interview on WFAN Sports Radio on Wednesday, June 17.
He added, “We still have to figure out the details.”
Dolan, 71, noted that he invited Trump, 80, to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York City earlier this month.
“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 said.
Trump was heavily booed during the June 8 game between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, which marked the Spurs’ only victory over the Knicks in the NBA Finals. (The Knicks defeated the Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 on Saturday to win their first championship since 1973.)
“It was, I think, mostly cheers,” Trump later told reporters. “It was loud and it was very enthusiastic.”
Dolan previously defended Trump against claims that he appeared to be falling asleep during the game.
“I was with him the whole time. We were talking the whole time. He was very much awake, he was very much engaged,” Dolan said last week.
“That’s the first sitting president of the United States to ever go to an NBA Final. That is a huge honor. And he’s a New Yorker. Whatever you think about him, he’s a Knicks fan,” Dolan added. “People don’t want to hear this … I think he’s a great guy. I love — I’ve known him for over 30 years, but I’m not going to go on this show and start espousing the president.”
“I’ll just say that having him there was a great honor, and I enjoyed sitting with him. He asked me a lot of questions,” Dolan said.
Earlier this week, Dolan revealed that he asked the Knicks to give up sex during the NBA Playoffs.
“I had this idea that maybe you should give up sex for the next 10 weeks,” Dolan said on the Monday, June 15, episode of the “Roommates Show” podcast hosted by the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. “You don’t have to give up sex for the next 10 weeks — but, like the Spartans, you know what Spartans are? They denied themselves, right? So that they can have an edge. Get the edge.”
He continued, “Go home, talk to your wives and tell them — don’t tell them you’re not gonna have sex, don’t tell them it was my idea — but let them [to] know what this is gonna be like, what your commitment is gonna be like, and how they’re gonna have to sacrifice too.”
