The Boston Celtics will visit the White House on Thursday to celebrate winning their 18th NBA championship in June.
“I think it’ll be cool,” star forward Jayson Tatum said. “One of the perks of being a champion is going to the White House. You see most of the former teams attend, so we’ll have that moment and take pictures and videos. It’s something that’ll last a lifetime.”
The Celtics traveled to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Their trip to the White House coincides with their game Friday against the Washington Wizards.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” guard Derrick White said. “That’s something that growing up, you see teams that won championships go to the White House and just kind of celebrate that moment together. It’s just to be one of those teams that won a championship and go to the White House and celebrate with a great team and great people.”
The Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, ending a 16-year title drought. It marked Boston’s second-longest lapse between titles in franchise history. Their longest drought lasted 22 seasons, from 1986 to 2008.
Tatum finished Game 5 with 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds while Jaylen Brown added 21 points. Brown won the Bill Russell Award for the NBA Finals MVP, which followed the MVP he won during the conference finals.
The Celtics were the NBA’s first No. 1 seed heading into the postseason to win a title since the Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the 2017 finals.
Al Horford, who won two national titles while at the University of Florida, visited the White House with the Gators. He said he intends to “soak it all in” during his first stop back as an NBA champion.
“That was a really cool experience getting to go to the White House (with the Florida team) to be there,” Horford said. “We had a blast. So they did the thing on the lawn outside in the courtyard. There were other college teams there as well, so it was cool to interact with some of them and do that stuff. So it’s a really neat experience. It’s an honor to be able to go to the White House.”
(Photo: Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)
