No NBA team has visited Donald Trump at the White House during either of his two terms as president. New York Knicks chairman James Dolan intends to change that – with or without a conversation with his players first. After the owner went public with the acceptance, Finals MVP Jalen Brunson gave a very different answer to the same question.

New York Magazine’s Tom Kludt asked Brunson about a potential White House visit.

“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.”

Appearing on The Craig Carton Show on Wednesday, the Knicks owner confirmed the invitation had been accepted.

“We just received an invitation which we’ve accepted. Still have to figure out the details. I’ve known the president 30 years and I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House.”

A White House official subsequently confirmed to NewsNation that the Trump administration had been in touch with the Knicks and looked forward to hosting them.

Jalen Brunson said the team hadn’t discussed it. Dolan accepted on behalf of the team. Josh Hart, meanwhile, is already facing public pressure from fans and commentators to skip the visit – pressure that comes as the relationship between Trump and the Knicks was not smooth during the Finals themselves.

Trump attended Game 3 at Madison Square Garden – the first sitting president ever to attend a Finals game – and the Knicks lost 115-111, snapping a 13-game winning streak. His appearance forced the NYPD to cancel the outdoor watch party on 33rd Street and implement a full TSA-style security around MSG, with fans arriving early to clear screening.

The Knicks won the title anyway. Whether that goodwill extends to a Washington trip is now a conversation the team still needs to have.

The visit, if it proceeds, would snap a years-long streak of NBA champions snubbing Trump – a pattern that began in 2017 when the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry said he didn’t want to go, Trump revoked the invitation, and every subsequent champion followed suit.

“Dumb as a Rock”: How the Trump-Stephen A. Smith Feud Shadowed the Knicks’ Championship Run

The White House visit story cannot be fully told without what else happened during the Finals – a beef between the president and an ESPN personality that turned Game 3 into a news cycle of its own. It began when Smith, a lifelong Knicks fan, objected loudly to Trump’s attendance at MSG.

“If it causes the New York Knicks to lose tonight, I’m blaming him. I’m blaming the president of the United States!” Smith said on First Take before tip-off.

The Knicks lost. Trump was asked about Smith postgame and responded, saying:

“I think he’s a nice guy, but you need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ. I’m not sure Stephen has that.”

Trump took it to Truth Social the following morning, calling Smith “an arrogant fool, a LOW IQ individual, dumb as a rock, and totally unqualified to ever think of running for high political office.”

Smith’s reply on First Take followed after:

“You wanna talk about IQ? I could put my IQ against yours. I got something even better – I could ask you why you been running from me for the past year since I asked you to talk to me. I could ask you to debate me since you think you’re that dude. … I ain’t Kamala and I ain’t Joe Biden.”

The Knicks won in five. Dolan accepted the White House invitation. Jalen Brunson said the team needs to talk about it. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, the city is being asked to navigate a visit that its starting players were not consulted about – to celebrate with a president whose attendance at their biggest game coincided with their only loss.