The long-standing tradition of Major Sports teams being honored by the President was somewhat broken during the Donald Trump presidency. Many champions, all the NBA champions, for example did not or were not invited to attend the traditional ceremony. No MLS team went during the Trump administration, in Trump’s first two years in office a total of 10 out of the 20 champions went and were honored by the President. The Lakers would be the first NBA team in four years to return to the White House.
The bitter war of words between LeBron James and Donald Trump surely fueled the fire for the NBA teams not to attend. While the Black Lives Matter movement gained exposure, and after Donald Trump had virtually started a war of words with sports leagues, less and less teams accepted the invitation to go to the White House.
Many of the NBA top stars took to social media to blast Donald Trump for his handling of the events in the Capitol and it is the Lakers intent to begin a sort of healing process between the league and the highest powers of government by restarting the tradition of champions visiting the president.
When will the Lakers visit the White House?
The Lakers hope to visit the White House and be greeted by newly elected president Joe Biden when they travel for the only time in 2021 to play the Washington Wizards in February of 2022. When Joe Biden won the Presidential elections in November, LeBron James responded to a tweet from Draymond Green stating he would return to the White House now that Trump was out of office.
Donald Trump left a dark legacy in regard to the President and the Sports world, so much so that every league had a team or various teams outright refusingthe invitation to meet the President. Trump also refused to invite teams that had won a title due to their political stances or comments at least one of the team members had made about him. The Lakers want to put that all to bed and restart a tradition that was put on hiatus.