NY Knicks Star Jalen Brunson Says White House Visit Still Up in the Air Despite Team Owner Accepting Trump’s Invite

New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards Sunday, March 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Although the owner of the New York Knicks has accepted the White House’s invite, star point guard Jalen Brunson remains unsure if the team will actually go meet President Donald Trump.

A little less than two weeks ago, the Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. The win ended a championship drought of more than half a century. Days after the team’s win, owner James Dolan — a close friend of Trump’s — announced the team accepted the president’s invite for a championship visit to the White House. Should the team travel to the White House, it would be the first NBA team to visit Trump during either of his terms.

In a Wednesday profile from Intelligencer, Brunson revealed things were still up in the air. The story read:

And there’s another celebration in the works — at the White House. Dolan publicly accepted the president’s invitation, which would make the Knicks the first NBA champion to visit while Trump is in office. Hours before Dolan’s announcement, Brunson appeared noncommittal when I asked about a White House trip. “We haven’t discussed it,” Brunson said. “But as a team, we’ll discuss it and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

The Knicks accepting the invite presents an awkward dilemma for at least one player. Forward Josh Hart has been highly critical of Trump in the past, calling the president a “dumbass” in one tweet and celebrating his 2020 election loss in another.

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