Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
James Dolan reportedly has an "attitude" with the Knicks for not wanting to visit the White House
Visiting the White House is a championship-winning team is far from the certainty it was in decades past. Over the course of President Trump’s two terms thus far, at least 20 title-winning teams have not visited the Peoples’ House.
James Dolan, the owner of Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks, and New York Rangers, is both a friend and donor of President Trump’s, and even personally invited him to Game 3 of the NBA Finals over the summer, which Trump ultimately attended.
New York Knicks owner James Dolan reportedly has an “attitude” with the team because they do not want to visit the White House
A return trip to Trump’s White House, however, currently seems unlikely, which Stephen A. Smith reported is causing Dolan to have an “attitude” with the team that just delivered the franchise’s first title since 1973.
“This is what I’ve been hearing, and I’m going to say it. Don’t know how much truth there is to it because I haven’t heard from the players directly. But one of the things that people have been talking about around New York City and around Madison Square Garden is that the climate was a little bit different. People have been a little bit stressed, because the owner James Dolan has an attitude with players because they don’t want to go to the White House,” Smith said on the October 28 episode of First Take.
Dolan has contributed at least $427,700 to Donald Trump’s presidential fundraising efforts, with reporting indicating additional donations during the 2020 election cycle, which he lost to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
“The owner James Dolan has an attitude with players because they don’t want to go to the White House” – Stephen A. Smith on what he’s hearing about the New York Knicks https://t.co/ufJtKvqPjK
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 28, 2026
Among the professional teams not to visit the White House in recent years include the 2017 and 2018 Golden State Warriors, 2018 Philadelphia Eagles, 2019 Toronto Raptors, and the 2025 OKC Thunder. College teams to have skip White House visits are the 2018 UNC Tar Heels, 2019 Villanova Wildcats, and 2019 Virginia Cavaliers.
After a brief reprieve from his reputation as one of the worst owners in professional sports last year, Dolan has resumed business as usual this season. Not only are there reports that he’s salty with his own team, but his organization sent out a phishing email to Knicks employees that pretended to be awarding them championship rings.
Following the massive backlash to the story, MSG clarified that more than 275 players, coaches, employees and other organizational members would receive championship rings or jewelry valued at over $3.7 million.