The NBA Finals are the talk of the sports arena. The Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors have set the rumor mill abuzz. One of them will leave the Finals in glee while the other will slink away in utter despondency and disappointment. Of course, at the moment even talk of the NBA Basketball odds for playoffs games has taken a bit of a backseat.
Instead, all anyone seems to care about is the aftermath of the NBA Finals. What happens when the NBA Finals end? More importantly, will the winning team actually go to the White house to celebrate with President Trump?
There are so many reasons to doubt this outcome. Neither the Cavaliers nor the Golden State Warriors are particularly fond of Donald Trump. LeBron James was pretty enthusiastic about his support for Hilary Clinton during the elections, and Steve Kerr, the Warriors Coach, had a number of unpleasant things to say about Donald Trump in the previous months.
That isn’t even taking into account the comments that have been uttered by the likes of Stephen Curry. Of course, it would be premature to completely reject the idea of either team going to the White House following their victory.
In fact, even though it would raise a few eyebrows, it wouldn’t be the most outlandish occurrence to find the Cavaliers celebrating with President Trump if they won. After all, Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cavaliers, has always been firmly in Trump’s corner. Not only do they know each other but Dan has suggested on multiple occasions that Trump’s reign would benefit the country as a whole.
Then again, if LeBron James isn’t comfortable meeting with Donald Trump, it is highly unlikely that Dan will force the team to march off to the White House despite LeBron’s resistance.
Of course, one is presuming that Donald Trump even wants the NBA champion, whoever it might be, to grace the White House with their presence. After all, Trump has never been the biggest basketball fan.
The President definitely has a thing for sports. Anyone who knows anything about Trump knows about his love for the game of football. He is also quite enamored by baseball and has frequently recounted his experience playing baseball as a child. But that love doesn’t really stretch to basketball.
Trump’s presence has been noted at Knicks games on previous occasions. He has even made appearances for Cavaliers games. But Trump definitely holds no attachment to the game as a whole and he won’t shed a tear if the winning team refuses to come to the White House.
Even if they come over, the President might simply refuse to grace them with his presence.
Regardless of how things play out, if Trump and the winning team cannot celebrate together, the responsibility will probably fall onto Vice President Mike Pence. But Pence is just as toxic for some people as Trump, so that probably won’t fly.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is also problematic because he drove the elimination of Obamacare which both LeBron James and Steph Curry supported. That only leaves Orrin Hatch. But is the President Pro Tempore of the Senate worth a visit to the White House?