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Aside from hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy, receiving a gem-studded championship ring, and raising a championship banner, another benefit of winning an NBA title is a chance to visit the White House and meet the US President.
The tradition sports teams of visiting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to meet the Leader of the Free World is actually older than the NBA itself, as it began in August 30, 1865, when President Andrew Johnson welcomed the Brooklyn Atlantics and Washington Nationals, two amateur baseball teams.
The Boston Celtics became the first NBA champions to visit the White House and meet the President when John F. Kennedy welcomed them in January 1963, and from there, title teams have typically included a stop at the White House and a meeting with the commander in chief whenever they are in Washington. In recent years, it was players and teams who didn’t visit President Donald Trump at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that made headlines, such as the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, with LeBron James, then playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, also memorably clashing with Trump.
But throughout the years, the meeting of champions teams with US Presidents at the Oval Office have yielded great moments, from memorable quotes to some notable absences for a variety of reasons. Here are some of them:
5. President John. F. Kennedy welcomes the Boston Celtics – January 1963
Unlike the recent visits of champion teams which are planned months in advance, the Celtics’ visit to the Oval Office seemed to be a spur of the moment trip. In January 1963, the Celtics were in the midst of a historic run that would see them win nine of the next 10 championships in the decade. According to a newspaper account of the visit, the team was in Washington for a game against the Cincinnati Royals and had been touring the White House.
January 31, 1963: #JFK visits with @celtics. https://t.co/rKA38zSj1U pic.twitter.com/jQJS7BOzav
— The '60s at 60 (@the_60s_at_60) September 23, 2017
But Kennedy, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, found out that they were in the White House and didn’t let the opportunity to meet them pass. Among the players who met Kennedy were John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, and the late Tommy Heinsohn, along with head coach Red Auerbach. Notably absent was the team’s star center Bill Russell, who experienced multiple incidents of racism at the time, although the article stated that the reason he didn’t make the trip was because he overslept and didn’t know they were meeting Kennedy.
And when it was time for the Celtics to leave the White House, Tom “Satch” Sanders memorably told Kennedy, “Take it easy, baby.”
4. LeBron James gives shout out to his mother during White House visit – January 2013
https://twitter.com/Dharapak/status/295972050642808833
With James winning his fourth championship with the Lakers, he has welcomed the possibility of another White House visit in the future. But seven years ago, after leading the Miami Heat to a title and winning his first championship, the four-time MVP seemed to be in disbelief during the team’s visit to the Oval Office with President Barack Obama.
“We just want to thank you … for allowing us to be, I mean, in the White House. I mean, we're in the White House. We’re kids from Chicago and Dallas, Texas and Michigan and Ohio and South Dakota, Miami and we're in the White House right now. This is like, ‘Hey, Mama, I made it.’”
It’s no secret that Obama is a basketball fan, and as he welcomed the Heat, he remarked that some of their players have already been to the White House to play pick up games with him, even joking that those games may have sharpened their skills and helped them win the title. James would return to the White House as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but it was during his first trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when he seemed genuinely humbled by the chance to be at the White House and meet the President.
3. The Celtics meet Ronald Reagan a day after beating the Lakers – June 1984
NBA champion teams usually visit the President at the White House months after their title win, but the 1984 Boston Celtics hold the distinction of being able to shake hands with President Ronald Reagan at the Rose Garden less than a day after beating the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the 1984 Finals. Among the members of the team and front office who made the trip included Dennis Johnson, head coach KC Jones, and team president Red Auerbach.
https://twitter.com/mcmurtriesf/status/911630762960576513
But since the trip to Washington came so close after a grueling Finals series and the wild celebrations that came after, some members of the team couldn’t make it to the White House. Larry Bird, the Finals MVP, Robert Parish, and Cedric Maxwell weren’t at the visit, with Maxwell also missing the team’s victory parade the next day because he was preparing for his wedding the following week. Bird, however, wasn’t able to meet Reagan because he chose to catch up on sleep after attending celebrations that lasted until the morning.
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And when asked about turning down the opportunity to meet the commander in chief, he memorably replied, “If the president wants to see me, he knows where to find me.”
2. Obama praises 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, thanks JR Smith’s shirt – November 2016
Watch: Cleveland Cavaliers visit President Obama at the White House https://t.co/BB1pTHGdUn via @NBCSports pic.twitter.com/fkPU1EsoFp
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 11, 2016
“Welcome to the White House and give it up for the world champion Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s right, I said world champion and Cleveland in the same sentence.”
With Obama being a longtime hoops fan, he understood the significance of the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the 2016 NBA title over the Golden State Warriors, ending a 52-year title drought for the city. When he welcomed the Cavaliers to the White House months after becoming the first team in the Finals to storm back from a 3-1 series deficit to win the title, he listed the heartbreaks that Cleveland sports teams and its fans have been through, from The Fumble to The Drive to The Shot.
“But Cleveland was always Believeland, that’s why the Cavs have always given back to their fans and the community that's been so loyal to them.”
Other memorable moments from the Cavaliers’ visit include doing the Mannequin Challenge inside the Oval Office and Obama thanking the shirt of guard JR Smith for making an appearance at the White House after he became famous for celebrating the Cavaliers’ title without a shirt. It remains to be seen whether Smith would wear a shirt should the Lakers choose to visit to the White House.
1. Michael Jordan finally visits the White House – April 1997
Larry Bird’s refusal to visit the White House in 1984 didn’t raise a lot of eyebrows, but it was a different case in 1991 months after Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to their first championship during the time of President George H. W. Bush. While his teammates met the President in the White House, Jordan skipped the event and instead chose to play golf, which caused controversy at the time.
So when the Bulls won another title years later and began their second three-peat, Jordan would make the trip to the Rose Garden in 1997 to meet with President Bill Clinton, and seemed humbled by the experience to finally be at the White House.
“It's great for me to be here. I’m very nervous. I've never had the opportunity to stand next to such a prestigious man.”
Clinton, who was wearing metal crutches at the time, was all praises for the Bulls, calling them as “perhaps the greatest basketball dynasty ever” and saying that the team was proof that “when people do things together, a lot more is possible.” The President couldn’t resist cracking jokes with the Bulls, saying that even thought he was wearing crutches, he would still play for the team given the chance.
“Just think of me as another injured basketball player. I want you to know that in six months, I'll be good as new and available for the next draft.”
