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The Lakers will get an invite to the White House to celebrate their championship

The Biden administration plans to invite both the Lakers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the White House when it’s “COVID safe” to do so.

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Graphic via Kendrew Abueg / Silver Screen and Roll

It’s pretty clear at this point that now that Joe Biden has been elected as President of the United States, the Lakers would like to visit the White House. There was an anonymously sourced report saying the team was just waiting for Donald Trump to leave office to go, and both LeBron James and veteran Jared Dudley have vocally supported the idea of celebrating their title with the 46th president.

The good news? Biden has mutual interest in hosting them. The less good news? It could be a while:

Given the NBA’s strict health and safety protocols as it continues its season during a pandemic, it is pretty likely that a White House visit would have been tough to justify this year unless extreme precautions were taken, and it’s probable that the current presidential administration is just as wary of setting a poor example by hosting a large gathering. It would also be hard to schedule far enough in advance, given that the Lakers currently don’t know when they’ll play the Washington Wizards in D.C. this season because the NBA hasn’t released the second half of its schedule yet.

So while this visit seems to be something both sides are very welcome to, don’t necessarily expect it to happen anytime soon. Between this and not getting the parade they so badly wanted in Los Angeles — or at least having to wait for it for a while — the Lakers have hardly gotten the normal trappings that come with a championship, so they’ll just have to repeat to make sure they can soak in double the appreciation and respect next year, when it will hopefully be a little safer to do so. It might be easier to schedule a White House visit then, too.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.

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