The Las Vegas Aces won’t be celebrating their 2025 WNBA championship at the White House, and it’s not necessarily because they don’t want to go. The team reportedly never received an invite, a spokesperson told USA Today’s Callie Fin.

It will mark the first time in the team’s recent run that it won’t visit the White House after winning a title. The Aces met with then-Vice President Kamala Harris following their 2022 title and then met with Harris and President Joe Biden after their 2023 championship.

White House visits for NBA and WNBA teams have become rare during President Donald Trump’s administration. That may have started after the Golden State Warriors declined an invite from Trump following the 2016-17 NBA season. After Warriors star Stephen Curry said he wouldn’t attend, Trump said the invitation was withdrawn, resulting in LeBron James calling Trump a “bum” in a tweet.

After that, the next three teams to win championships in the NBA and WNBA did not receive invites to the White House to celebrate those titles, per Business Insider.

The Toronto Raptors reportedly did not receive an invite from Trump the following year, though he said he considered it. The next time an NBA team won a title, Biden was already in office. He invited the Los Angles Lakers to celebrate their title, but the team skipped it due to COVID-19 protocols and scheduling conflicts.

Over in the WNBA, the Mystics did not receive an invite from Trump following their 2019 championship.

White House visits did happen more often during Biden’s term, with the Aces going twice and the Warriors and Boston Celtics celebrating with Biden.

With Trump back in office for his second term, there could once again be a dearth of NBA and WNBA teams going back to the White House. The Aces reportedly were not invited and the Thunder reportedly couldn’t make it work due to scheduling issues. The Thunder, however, did say they were in contact with the White House about a possible visit, it just didn’t come together.

With the White House not on the table, the Aces considered visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture when they are in town in late July. But those plans fell through due to scheduling issues, per Fin.

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