Why haven't the Nuggets visited the White House yet and will they ever?

Historically speaking, the champions of major American sports leagues have followed up their title-winning seasons with a visit to the White House to meet and be congratulated by the President of the United States. But the NBA season is winding down and the Denver Nuggets have yet to make that visit, nor do they have anything currently scheduled. So what gives?

NBA Insider for TNT and Bleacher Report, Chris Haynes went on his podcast, This League, which he co-hosts with Marc Stein, and broke some news on this topic. In the March 2nd episode, Haynes and Stein discuss the Nuggets after their win over the Heat Thursday night, and Haynes enlightened fans on the White House situation.

Has the team been invited to the White House?

The Nuggets were indeed invited to the White House to visit President Joe Biden. The initial invitation was for the Nuggets to make an appearance while they were in Washington to face the Wizards on January 21st. However, the Biden Administration had a scheduling conflict and was unable to host the team at the time, so the date was rescheduled.

The two sides worked to figure out another date for the team to visit and recently agreed on a March 18th date. The Nuggets have a scheduled off day, and Biden and his team are available to meet with them. But unfortunately, that meeting was recently canceled.

Why was the March 18th White House trip canceled?

While the first scheduled meeting created a conflict for the president, this time it’s actually the Nuggets who have decided not to make the trip. The team does have an off day on the 18th, but it’s wedged between two big road games, at Dallas on March 17th and at Minnesota on March 19th.

Denver is in the midst of a push for the top seed in the West and those are two huge games to determine seeding. The T-Wolves especially, are currently tied with the Nuggets at 42-19. The team has clearly decided they don’t need an unnecessary trip halfway across the country on their one day off in between two big games.

Currently, no meeting has been rescheduled and at this point in the season it seems unlikely to happen. Some fans may be disappointed that the team won’t get this rare opportunity, but it’s good to see they are focused on the task at hand, defending their title. And if they’re able to repeat as champions they’ll have a whole nother year to figure out a meeting date.