Tencent Sports, June 21 - According to Sports News, Raptors won the NBA championship. They have not yet decided whether to visit the White House. When talking about this, President Trump said that if Raptors were willing to visit the White House, he would consider sending an invitation. [Focus on NBA Dynamics]
As a rule, North American teams will visit the White House after winning the championship. Since 1985, the NBA championship team has accepted an invitation to visit the White House, and it has become a tradition to meet the President. However, some changes have taken place in this practice since Trump took office.
In 2017, the Warriors won the NBA championship. Because the team's coach and players were dissatisfied with Trump's policy, the two sides fought on social media. Durant and Curry of the Warriors clearly said that they would never go to the White House, and Trump simply withdrew the invitation of the Warriors to visit the White House.
In 2018, the Warriors defended their championship. When the team said that it would not visit the White House, Trump directly replied that he did not intend to invite the Warriors to visit at all.
Now, can Raptors become the first NBA team that Trump meets after taking office? When asked about this topic, Trump also said: "We have considered this matter, which is a very interesting question."
"They (Raptors) have played a very brilliant season, and I watched a little of their game. Their performance was really good, and I also congratulated them." Trump then added, "They are a great team. They have done great things, and we will consider it (invite Raptors to visit the White House), if they want, we will consider it."
Since the Warriors of the previous two seasons refused to visit the White House, the NBA team that last went to the White House was the Cleveland Cavaliers. At that time, they were received by former US President Barack Obama. If the Raptors visit the White House, they will not only be the first NBA team that Trump meets, but also the first non American NBA team to visit the White House.
Although Raptors is not sure whether to visit the White House, one thing is certain. Eleanore Catnaro, spokesman of Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, confirmed today that Raptors plans to invite Raptors to Ottawa. At that time, Raptors will also receive Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada.
(Cat and Bear)