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Knicks Owner Confirms White House Visit After Historic Win

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The White House
Photo Credit: "White House" by Diego Cambiaso is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/?ref=openverse.

The Knicks’ long-awaited title party is getting a Washington stop after James Dolan said the franchise has accepted a White House invitation.

The trip would mark the first White House visit by an NBA champion in the Trump era.

Dolan used a Wednesday WFAN New York appearance to disclose that the invite had come in — and that the team said yes.

“As a matter of fact, thank you for asking me that, we just did receive an invitation from the White House, which we accepted,” Dolan said on WFAN. “We still have to figure out the details, but yes, of course.”

For Dolan, the visit also carries a personal layer. Dolan’s connection to Trump runs back decades, and the president watched Game 3 of the Finals from the owner’s suite at Madison Square Garden.

“I invited the President to come down for the game,” Dolan said. “He is a friend. I’ve known him for 30 years and I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House.”

After rumors speak about the team potentially snubbing the White House, an official told Vanity Fair they were “fake news.”

“The White House congratulates the Knicks on their championship win and looks forward to discussing a visit in the near future,” the official added.

Trump had publicly praised Dolan earlier in the month while talking about the Knicks’ long-awaited breakthrough.

“I’ve been a Knick fan for a long time, and I’m also a Jim Dolan fan,” Trump said earlier this month. “He’s a nice guy. He spent a long time wanting to win… He’s got a team that’s amazing.”

The invitation comes after the Knicks ended generations of frustration by taking the Finals from San Antonio in five games.

“Congratulations to Jim Dolan and the New York Knicks!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “What incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four — maybe the greatest in the history of basketball.”

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“Also tonight, a superstar was born. His name is Jalen Brunson, and there are others, including Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and great patriot Mitchell Robinson!” he added.

The win sent New York into party mode after the team’s first championship since 1973. Trump’s in-person Finals appearance came during the Knicks’ only loss in the series.

Even Dolan’s hospitality could not shield Trump from the Garden crowd, which booed when the arena screens showed him during the national anthem.

Still, at least one Knicks player sounded ready to make the trip if the team goes together.

Jose Alvarado, the New York-born guard, sounded willing to go wherever the locker room goes.

“If there’s a chance, I’m going wherever my teammate goes,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado had already been living the New York celebration out loud. Hours after the team flew back from San Antonio, Alvarado was already celebrating in New York alongside Jordan Clarkson and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Parade footage caught Alvarado at the Puerto Rican Day Parade rapping along to Jadakiss’ verse on Ja Rule’s “New York,” the revived anthem of the Knicks’ run.

Mamdani joined in on parts of the song as the championship celebration spilled into the streets.

The New York Democrat framed the coming ticker-tape parade as the payoff for decades of Knicks misery.

“It will be the first ticker-tape parade in Knicks history, where New Yorkers will be able to celebrate a moment that has feels like we’ve waited an entire lifetime for because when it comes to people my age and a little bit older, we have,” Mamdani said.

“There have been so many heartbreaks, so many near misses, so many years, every year where we’ve told ourselves it’s the year and for it to actually happen now, there’s nothing more we can ask for as New Yorkers,” he added.

But even after the title, Mamdani found time to poke at an old Knicks villain. CNN later teed up the city’s basketball villain debate, asking whether Victor Wembanyama had knocked Trae Young from the top of New York’s hate list.

Mamdani pretended not to know whom the question was about. “I’m not sure who that other guy is you’re speaking of,” he told CNN. “But Victor Wembanyama is the most recent villain we’ve had, yes — vanquished.”

The answer reopened Mamdani’s earlier Trae Young bit, which began as a joke about sky-high playoff ticket prices.

“I think first, I would say that I blame Trae Young, and I think it’s always important to blame Trae Young. I am still confident and hopeful for a championship this year,” he quipped.

“I do wish all these tickets were more affordably priced,” he did answer seriously during an April interview.

Young, who had already cemented himself as a Knicks antagonist, answered on X by reminding New York what happened the last time a mayor invoked his name.

“Remember what happened the last time the Mayor of that City had my name in his mouth during a time like this…. #DontBlameMeWhenItHappensAgain,” Young posted on X.

Young’s warning carried a very specific Garden memory: Atlanta’s 2021 first-round takedown of the Knicks.

Game 1 made him a villain for life, with Young dropping 32 and sealing the opener before shushing Madison Square Garden.

Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio joined the spectacle days later by calling out Young at a press briefing.

“This is very serious, want to get this message to Trae Young on behalf of the people for New York City and anybody that cares about playing basketball the right way: Stop hunting for fouls, Trae,” de Blasio said.

Young averaged 29.2 points in that series as Atlanta eliminated the Knicks in five games. Knicks fans have not exactly let it go.

The rivalry only got more theatrical in 2024-25, when Young bounced the Knicks from the NBA Cup quarterfinals and turned the center-court logo into his own dice-roll stage.

For now, the Knicks have the title, the first ticker-tape parade in franchise history and a White House invitation Dolan said the team has already accepted.

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