NEW YORK -- The Seattle Storm will be celebrating their 2020 WNBA title at the White House.
President Joe Biden invited the team to visit Washington on Monday afternoon. On Sunday, the Storm will play at Washington Mystics.
"I believe that going to the White House was an honor for me for a long time. It was not necessarily political. It was to meet with the president of the United States. "The person who holds that office acknowledges your team's successes," Sue Bird, a Seattle guard, said. This will be her third visit to meet a president. It was an amazing honor. It was an amazing honor, even if you're watching a movie like "Forrest Gump," I admit, but you can see it in the movie. It was not political. "I think all of that has changed in 2016.
Bird expressed her joy at Donald Trump's departure and said that she was looking forward to returning. Bird is one of many WNBA players who have voiced support for social justice movements like Black Lives Matter. Trump referred to it as a violent, radical ideology. Trump also criticized Bird's fiancée, Megan Rapinoe, a U.S. soccer player.
Bird stated, "Now it's back at a place that it's considered an honour and you're acknowledged by the highest office of the country is exciting. It's fun." It's more than just meeting the president, or perhaps the vice president. It's all about the experience of being at the White House. It's all about you and your team.
Bird was invited to the White House three times, once with UConn, and twice with Storm. She couldn't make it.
The Storm, who have won four titles in their career, will be joined by the team’s ownership group as well as WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Last time the team visited the White House was in 2011.
Since the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, Barack Obama's last year as president, no NBA or WNBA teams have visited the White House.
