President Biden welcomed the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics to the White House on Thursday, but he was either not entirely sure about it or joked about it.
In announcing the team's latest championship, Biden looked at the team to see if they were called the Celtics.
“You're a Celtic, right?” Biden asked his players midway through his speech. This comment elicited a light but subdued laugh from the crowd.
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Biden also joked that he didn't know where the players were coming from.
“They just showed up. We don't know where the hell they came from,” Biden said.
Later in his speech, Biden appeared to reveal his Secret Service code name. According to Britannica, “Celtic” has been Biden's code name throughout his presidency, dating back to his time as vice president under President Obama.
“In case you guys don't know, my Secret Service name is 'Celtic,' because really, I'm Irish,” Biden said. “Everyone behind me is Irish at heart and I take special pride in this trophy for this old Irish Celtic. Congratulations to everyone at Celtic.”
Boston Celtics players Jayson Tatum, left, flanked by Derrick White during an event celebrating the team's victory in the 2024 NBA Championship on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. They lined up and held up the jerseys President Biden was presented with. ,Thursday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden concluded his speech by pointing out that John F. Kennedy was the first president to welcome an NBA champion when the Celtics visited the NBA champions in 1963.
“It's part of that great tradition of celebrating the power of sport to bring people together. It's a tradition I'm honored to continue. No matter the sport, what all these champions have in common is the “These are our values: hard work, teamwork, respect, and that no one is better than others when they're together,” he said.
After Biden's speech, he received a special Celtics jersey and headed down the stairs with his basketball. He dribbled the ball and sent several passes to attendees in the crowd.
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President Biden tossed a basketball he received from the Boston Celtics on Thursday at an event celebrating the team's victory in the 2024 NBA Championship on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Thursday's event brought together the 2023-24 Celtics roster, coaching staff and ownership group on the South Lawn.
The 2023 champion Denver Nuggets did not attend Biden's White House visit due to “scheduling issues,” the team previously told The Denver Post.
Before Thursday, the last NBA champions to visit Biden's White House were the 2021-2022 Golden State Warriors. These Warriors visited in late January 2023. The Celtics' visit to the White House was scheduled for November. President Trump will be inaugurated by the end of January next year.
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Not a single NBA champion attended the White House during President Trump's tenure. But before the coronavirus pandemic, the only two teams to win titles under President Trump were the Warriors, who Trump did not invite, and the Canadian-based Toronto Raptors.
President Trump infamously turned down invitations from several major championship women's basketball teams. white house Including all WNBA championships during his first term.
On April 29, 2019, the Baylor women's NCAA championship basketball team and its coach, Kim Mulkey, presented President Trump with a jersey during his visit to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Trump's White House hosted the women's basketball team, the 2019 national champion Baylor Bears, led by former head coach Kim Mulkey.
The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles were the only two NFL teams invited to the White House during President Trump's first term. The Patriots accepted invitations in both 2017 and 2019. The Eagles' visit was canceled and the team issued a statement saying it was related to President Trump's stance on players standing for the national anthem.
During President Trump's first term, and even during his recent campaign, college football was his most welcoming sport in America. His games included multiple Army-Navy games in his first term and the Georgia-Alabama game in September. It was greeted with thunderous applause.
Not a single college football national champion skipped a White House visit during President Trump's first term. Georgia missed President Biden's 2023 White House visit.
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