James Dolan and his team are apparently not on the same page when it comes to a potential White House visit.
The New York Knicks owner Dolan is upset that the Knicks players do not want to visit President Donald Trump at the White House. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith made that revelation on an episode of “First Take” on Wednesday.
"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
Relying on Smith as a source is generally somewhat dubious. But Smith is based in New York City and has a well-established resume when it comes to the New York sports scene.
As for Dolan, he is close friends with President Trump, who is a fellow New York native. Trump even attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals last year at the invite of Dolan (and proceeded to get heavily booed by Knicks fans).
After the Knicks won the 2026 NBA title over the summer, Dolan said in an interview that the team would indeed be visiting the White House, as per tradition with defending major sports champions. But Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson said just a few days later that a decision on a White House visit had not been made yet.
Jim Dolan announced last week that the team accepted Trump’s invite for the Knicks to go to the White House. @TomKludt had asked Jalen Brunson about the prospect of a WH visit hours before, and here’s what he said: “We haven’t discussed it,” Brunson said. “But as a team, we’ll discuss it and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” https://t.co/f8dizHJqt8
— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) June 24, 2026
Now it appears that there is a real disconnect between Dolan and the Knicks players when it comes to touring 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It probably does not help either that the Knicks are off to a 1-3 start this season and that some of their other stars are openly frustrated right now.
