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Trump and NBA Champion Raptors Both Speak Out on Potential White House Visit

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Both the Toronto Raptors and President Donald Trump have spoken out about whether the newly crowned champs will make the traditional White House visit.

The Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games to become the first Canadian team to win an NBA title.

Since they are not an American team but play in a league primarily composed of American teams and players from the states, it was unclear whether they would still receive a White House invitation.

Trump revealed his thoughts on it Thursday afternoon.

“They played phenomenal basketball,” he told reporters as he met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I watched a little bit of it. They were really terrific.”

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The president then turned to Trudeau and said, “Congratulations, by the way. That was a great job by a great team.

“So we’ll think about that, if they’d like to do it.”

However, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse appeared to have different ideas.

Appearing Wednesday on Toronto station CJCL-AM’s “Prime Time Sports,” Nurse was asked about a potential visit and said, “You know, we’re here. Let’s go see Trudeau up in Ottawa. We’re Canada’s team.”

That is what Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson suggested as well.

“Hey @Raptors forget the White House for a victory lap,” he tweeted Friday. Come to Ottawa and parliament hill so Canada can congratulate you!”

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Although it is not common, a Canadian pro sports team has visited the White House before.

The 1992 Toronto Blue Jays visited then-President George H.W. Bush after their World Series win.

Should the Toronto Raptors visit the White House?

However, when the Blue Jays repeated in 1993, they did not visit the Bill Clinton White House, nor did the 1993 Stanley Cup-winning Montreal Canadians.

So far, an NBA team has yet to visit the Trump White House.

The Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals in both 2017 and 2018 and did not go either time.

In September 2017, Trump disinvited the Warriors after top players on the team such as Steph Curry and Kevin Durant outright said they did not want to go.

“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” he tweeted. “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”

When the Warriors won the championship again in 2018, they did not receive a White House invite.

The 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are the only other major pro sports team to snub the White House during the Trump presidency.

Other teams have had certain players or coaches skip the visit, but most set aside any differences they had and enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

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Tom is a freelance writer from Massachusetts' South Shore. He covers sports, culture and politics and has written for The Washington Examiner, LifeZette and other outlets.
Tom is a freelance writer from Massachusetts' South Shore. He covers sports, culture and politics and has written for The Washington Examiner, LifeZette and other outlets.
Location
Massachusetts
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Sports, culture, politics




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