The Philadelphia Eagles were the victors of Super Bowl LIX after dominating the Chiefs 40-22. However, The Birds’ triumph was partly tainted by a rumor claiming that the team was not interested in attending their visit to the White House to meet with President Trump. While that rumor has been disproven, it certainly spread like wildfire, and forced NBA legend Charles Barkley to respond.
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Barkley has never been one to shy away from expressing his opinion regardless of how controversial the topic. When it comes to his views on the States’ political landscape, he did not mince his words on then-President hopeful, Donald Trump, in December 2023.
“For a man running for the most powerful position in the world; to use pseudo-racist rhetoric, that’s one of the reasons I can’t vote for that guy. He just rubs me the wrong way.”
Barkley addressed the Eagles’ rumors and confessed his disappointment on the Steam Room podcast. He stated that hearing the rumor in fact made him angry.
“I hate that,” shouted Chuck, who argued that it shouldn’t matter who the president is and it’s a great honor to go to the White House regardless. He later acknowledged that the Eagles might still attend the annual invite, but that the entire discourse has bothered him for some time.
Chuck also brought up the divide in America because of the presidency but clarified that he does not agree with a lot of what Trump has done or said in office.
The Sixers legend, however, commented on the distinction between disliking the president and disrespecting the office. He claimed he wants to show the POTUS a great deal of respect if he ever were to be in his presence.
“It bothers me when these teams don’t want to go to the White House,” Chuck admitted. “Where did we get to as a country where we like, ‘We are not going to the White House, we don’t like who is in there.’ That’s just stupid in my opinion.”
To reiterate, no one from the Eagles organization, including team owner, players or coaches, have made any statement about denying a trip to the White House.
Regardless, the honor is very important to Barkley, who never got to experience it as an NBA Champion. This was also not the first time that the 11-time All-Star shared his viewpoint on teams declining White House visits either.
Chuck called out the Denver Nuggets for not meeting with President Biden in 2023
In 2023, when Joe Biden was still in office, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, but did not attend their championship visit to the White House due to scheduling conflicts. That didn’t sit well with Barkley, who called out the team’s lack of effort during a segment on NBA on TNT.
“Whether you like the President or not. For me personally, it’s an honor and a privilege to go to the White House, and you should always go,” claimed Barkley.
Charles Barkley addresses the Denver Nuggets’ White House trip being canceled due to a scheduling conflict pic.twitter.com/eRxh7LaJ3s
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 8, 2024
The trend did become a little more noticeable during Trump’s first presidency between 2016 and 2020. In that four year span, over ten major franchises from across every major sports league either chose not to attend the White House or were not invited.
This included the 2016-2017 Golden State Warriors. Head coach Steve Kerr stated months prior that he wouldn’t attend even if the Dubs went on to win. Steph Curry said something similar. In a time when all eyes are on America because of another Trump presidency, this trend will likely see a repeat.
