Washington, Nov 21 (EFE).- As is traditional, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, received this Thursday in the gardens of the White House the current NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, who gave him a jersey of the team with his name and number 46.
A tradition that began in 1963 when then-president John F. Kennedy also received the Celtics for their victory that season in the North American professional basketball league championship.
During the event, Biden revealed that the code name that the Secret Service uses to refer to him is “Celtic”, in reference to his Irish origin.
“Really, because I’m Irish. Everyone behind me is Irish at heart,” he said of the players behind him.
He was also accompanied on the south lawn of the White House by more than a hundred guests, many of them wearing green clothing, the color of the Boston team.
The president recalled between jokes and in a relaxed atmosphere that the winners of the championship in 2023 “are not just any champions, but the franchise with the most victories in the history of the league, which now has 18 titles.”
Biden, the 46th president in the history of the United States, also highlighted Joe Mazzulla, the 36-year-old coach of the Celtics: “The youngest coach to win a (NBA) title since the great Bill Russell! “, said.
“Together you have assembled one of the strongest teams in history. Incredible players led by Jason (Tatum), Jaylen (Brown), Derrick (White) and Jrue (Holiday),” he continued.
The president highlighted that the Celtics finished the regular season last season with 64 wins, “the best record in the league in 2023”, and that they scored “more points per possession than any other team in NBA history.”
“And now that the banner of the 18th championship hangs from the rafters, you are hungry for more, which is also demonstrated off the court with the work you do throughout Boston through foundations to fight injustice, expand the voter education, providing health care to children and mothers and much more,” he explained.
After his words, Tatum and Brown gave Biden the team jersey with his name and number while Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck gave him a ball.
(c) EFE Agency
