Jalen Brunson has revealed the New York Knicks have not discussed visiting the White House to see Donald Trump after their NBA championship win.
It comes after Knicks owner James Dolan, a close friend of Trump’s who invited the president to watch Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, announced his team would be visiting the White House.
If they were to go, the Knicks will become the first NBA championship squad to visit the White House during the Trump administration.
But, in an interview with New York Magazine, NBA Finals MVP Brunson said a decision had not been made. The interview took place hours before Dolan’s comments.
Brunson said: ‘We haven’t discussed it. But as a team, we’ll discuss it and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.’
Last week, Dolan told WFAN New York that a formal invitation from the nation’s capital had arrived and was accepted by the front office.
Jalen Brunson has revealed the Knicks have not discussed visiting Trump’s White House yet
Last week, Knicks owner James Dolan said he had received and accepted an invite from Trump
They would be the first NBA champions to visit the White House in the Trump administration
‘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. ‘We still have to figure out the details, but yes, of course.’
The prospect of attending carries plenty of significance for Dolan, who has maintained a long friendship with the president and welcomed him into his private suite for Game 3 of the NBA Finals last week.
‘I invited the president to come down for the game,’ Dolan added. ‘He is a friend. I’ve known him for 30 years and I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House.’
The president has previously reciprocated that admiration publicly, praising Dolan’s competitive drive and the remarkable resilience of the roster during a recent press conference.
‘I’ve been a Knick fan for a long time, and I’m also a Jim Dolan fan,’ the president noted. ‘He’s a nice guy. He spent a long time wanting to win… He’s got a team that’s amazing.’
The team’s dominant postseason run culminated in a decisive five-game series victory over the Spurs, sparking massive, city-wide celebrations that brought millions of fans into the streets in last week’s ticker-tape parade.
The lone blemish on the Knicks’ otherwise flawless Finals record came during an intense Game 3 showdown, a matchup that the president watched firsthand alongside Dolan.
During his visit, the president was booed by thousands of Knicks fans inside Madison Square Garden when he was shown on the big screens during the national anthem.
Dolan would have enamored himself to Trump even more when he appeared to snub a photo with New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani during the parade celebrations.
Dolan, who was the first to receive the keys to the city from Mamdani, did not appear too enthused to pose for a photo opportunity with him.
Dolan, hosted he Trump in his private suite for Game 3 of the NBA Finals last week
Dressed in an orange blazer and a blue Knicks cap, Dolan quickly shook hands with Mamdani and accepted the key, but refused to stand close to the mayor.
Mamdani then stood awkwardly in preparation of a photo but Dolan did not hesitate, instead immediately turning back towards his seat.
The pair shared another tense exchange during the ceremony when they appeared to trade sly digs at one another.
Mamdani name dropped Charles Oakley during his speech, whose longstanding feud with Dolan stems from a 2017 incident where Madison Square Garden security forcibly removed the former player from a game and arrested him.
The MSG boss then fired back with snappy comments of his own when his turn to take to the podium came.
‘I don’t need your vote, I don’t need to quote to you, right, about what happened here because if you’re real Knicks fans, you know it already,’ Dolan said in an apparent dig at the mayor.
The bitter exchange came after the pair feuded ahead of Game 4 over watch parties outside the iconic Garden.
Dolan took aim at the mayor for setting up restrictions around the famous arena that dampened the raucous watch parties taking place outside the venue.
‘They’re sitting there trying to say, “Well, we’re big Knicks fans,” but they’re not Knicks fans,’ Dolan said on WFAN on June 10.
‘He’s not a Knick fan,’ he added in reference to Mamdani.
