this NBA The champion Milwaukee Bucks were welcomed at the White House on Monday, the first NBA team to return to the White House after nearly five years.
The current president, whether it is a Republican or a Democrat, often holds ceremonies at the White House to honor sports champions, but stops visiting during the former president Donald TrumpTime in the office. Many athletes disagree with Trump’s policies on police and immigration, and Trump is not friendly to criticism.
President Joe Biden Welcome the team into his home, not only because they won the championship, but also because they made encouraging efforts for the COVID-19 vaccine and gave a speech after the police shooting in 2020 Jacob Black In Wisconsin.
The Bucks are led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, and everyone seems to be very excited about visiting the White House and bringing back precious traditions.
“This is one of the amazing gifts we can experience: coming to the White House to meet the President of the United States,” Antetokounmpo said.
Antetokounmpo even posted a video of him practicing greeting the president on social media.
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Biden said: “After the Jacob Black shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, you stood up for justice and peace, and you let people participate.” The Bucks announced that they would not participate in the first round of the playoffs. After the fifth game of the game, the NBA postponed the 2020 game because they tried to clarify what they said was the racial injustice faced by the black community.
Antetokounmpo helped the Bucks end a 50-year drought, since Lu Alcindo (a member of the Hall of Fame, later renamed Karim Abdul-Jabbar, later renamed Karim Abdul) Le Jabal) and Oscar Robertson have taken home an NBA championship for the first time since they led the team.
The co-owner of the Bucks, Mak Lasri, is a billionaire hedge fund manager and a well-known Democratic donor.
His son and the team’s senior vice president, Alex Lasry, are on vacation because he is competing fiercely for the Democratic nomination of a U.S. congressman from Wisconsin. Senate For seats, compete for the opportunity to compete with Republican senators. Ron Johnson.
Biden did not directly mention the relationship between Las Rees and the Democratic Party. But at the beginning of his speech, the President paid tribute to Wisconsin businessman and philanthropist Ted Kellner, who served as the honorary chairman of the 2020 Milwaukee Democratic National Convention, and the former Bucks owner Heberkell, a former Wisconsin state Democratic U.S. Senator.
Biden pointed out that Kellner helped save his first run for the U.S. Senate by injecting cash when funds were short in 1972.
Lasri cunningly hinted that as long as Biden is president, he hopes the team will continue to come back to celebrate the championship.
“Damn it, why don’t we come back in four years?” Rasley said. “Let’s do it for eight years.”
In 2017, Stephen Curry, the biggest star of the Golden State Warriors, told reporters that he planned to vote against when the players got together to decide whether to visit the White House. Trump canceled his invitation to the Golden State Warriors in 2017.
In the second year, Trump said that before the end of the playoffs, there was no invitation to the NBA Championship, because Curry’s Warriors played against Curry’s Warriors in the finals. LeBron James-Lead the Cleveland Cavaliers. James is an outspoken critic of Trump.
The Toronto Raptors visited the Canadian Parliament after winning the 2019 NBA Finals, but the players made it clear that they are not interested in visiting the White House. The Los Angeles Lakers, also led by James, won the 2020 championship when the White House suspended such visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump also cancelled the invitation National Football LeagueThe Philadelphia Eagles are the 2018 Super Bowl champions, and several players previously stated that they would not participate in White House celebrations with Trump.
Trump strongly criticized NFL players for kneeling while playing the national anthem in order to highlight police brutality that affects black men and women.
