WNBA's A'ja Wilson says Las Vegas Aces weren't invited to White House after 2022 title
Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson has a question for President Joe Biden: When will the 2022 WNBA champions visit the White House?
President Joe Biden congratulated the Vegas Golden Knights on the franchise's first Stanley Cup title following a Game 5 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, continuing a longstanding tradition of the president recognizing national champions across college and professional sports leagues via Twitter.
"Congrats to the Vegas @GoldenKnights on their first Stanley Cup in just their sixth season," Biden tweeted from the official @POTUS account on Wednesday. "The first major professional franchise in such a proud American city. Today, the team and entire community are champions."
The congratulatory tweet is normally followed by an invitation to the White House. But Wilson revealed on Wednesday that the Aces received neither following its first WNBA title in franchise history last season.
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The Aces' 2022 WNBA title win in September went unacknowledged by the @POTUS account. On Wednesday, following Biden's tweet about the Golden Knights, Wilson tweeted, "When is our White House visit cause…"
It's not clear why the Aces didn't receive an invitation. Biden hosted Sue Bird and the 2020 champion Seattle Storm in 2021, but not the 2021 champion Chicago Sky, who met with former President Barack Obama in a meeting arranged by the franchise's ownership. The Kansas City Chiefs, LSU women’s basketball team and UConn men's basketball team recently visited Biden after winning the Super Bowl and NCAA national championships, respectively.
The Aces are looking to win back-to-back championships and are off to a good start. They have the best record in the WNBA at 9-1 entering Wednesday.
Despite the snub, Wilson posted a serious of celebratory tweets for the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights, founded in 2017, were the first major sports franchise representing Las Vegas. The WNBA's Aces (formerly the San Antonio Stars) moved to Las Vegas before the 2018 season, followed by the Las Vegas Raiders (formerly the Oakland Raiders) in 2020 and potentially the Oakland A's.