Joe Biden, in his last months as the 46th President of the United States, continued the tradition begun over sixty years ago, and received the current NBA champions at the White House: the Boston Celtics.
Biden told Celtics players and press at the White House that Biden’s Secret Service code name is “Celtic,” due to his Irish ancestry.
Biden also praised the Celtics, the franchise with the most NBA titles in history, 18 titles.
Biden particularly praised coach Joe Mazzulla, who at 36 (35 when he won the title) is the second-youngest basketball coach since Bill Russell. “I told him I was the youngest and now I’m the oldest“joked Biden, who was once one of the youngest U.S. senators and will now retire as the oldest U.S. president ever.”I liked being the youngest better“.
The first occasion on which a US president received NBA champions in the White House dates back to 1963, when Russell of the Boston Celtics met John F. Kennedy.
During Donald Trump’s first term (2017-2020), the Golden State Warriors won the title twice and the Los Angeles Lakers once. Neither team wanted to meet Trump (in 2019 it was the Toronto Raptors who triumphed and visited Justin Trudeau).
