The reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder will not visit the White House during their weekend trip to Washington, D.C. The Thunder confirmed Friday that they spoke with the White House but that a scheduling conflict prevented the visit.
Oklahoma City plays the Washington Wizards on Saturday, which is the traditional window for a title team to make the trip.
A Pattern That Has Become the Norm
The team issued a single statement and offered no further explanation.
“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.
The last NBA title team to make the trip was the Boston Celtics, who visited in November 2024 under President Joe Biden.
During Trump’s first term, the Golden State Warriors declined in 2017 following their championship. Trump later said he had withdrawn their invitation. The Toronto Raptors, who won in 2019, ruled out a visit before any invitation was formally extended. The Los Angeles Lakers skipped their celebration in 2021 due to COVID protocols.
The tradition itself dates to the Celtics’ White House trip after the 1963 NBA championship. For more than 60 years, it served as a reliable calendar event for new champions; a celebration without political stakes. That calculation has changed significantly over the past decade.
Oklahoma City is currently on a five-game road trip. The team did have a game in Brooklyn on Wednesday, but had two days off before Saturday’s matchup in Washington.
Whether logistics fully explain the decision is a question the Thunder have not answered publicly, and no player has spoken on the record about it.
The NBA Still Has Not Gone Back
The broader context makes the Thunder’s position notable. Other sports have not had the same friction. The Philadelphia Eagles visited Trump’s White House in April 2025 after their Super Bowl LIX victory, though stars Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith were among the players who did not attend. MLS champion Inter Miami made the trip earlier this month. The gold-medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team attended the State of the Union address following Trump’s invitation.
The U.S. women’s hockey team declined that same State of the Union invitation, citing “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments,” phrasing that landed nearly identically to the Thunder’s statement on Friday.
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The NBA’s relationship with this tradition has been fractured since 2017, and the Thunder’s decision adds another chapter. The league’s players have been vocal on political matters for years.
Whether the organization’s choice reflects a political stance, a genuine scheduling bind, or some combination of both, the team has offered no clarification beyond its brief statement and has given no indication it will.
The Thunder tip off against the Wizards at Capital One Arena on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET. The White House will remain unvisited.
