Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson took issue with President Joe Biden's tweet congratulating the Golden Knights as the first major pro sports team to win a championship for the city.
The Aces defeated the Connecticut Sun for the WNBA championship last September, nine months before the Golden Knights hoisted the Stanley Cup after their Tuesday night win over the Florida Panthers.
Biden tweeted his congratulations on Wednesday, but whether he intentionally dismissed the Aces or misspoke is hard to tell.
Congrats to the Vegas @GoldenKnights on their first Stanley Cup in just their sixth season. The first major professional franchise in such a proud American city.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 14, 2023
Today, the team and entire community are champions.
As many in the replies had noted, the Aces brought home a title first. The two-time and reigning WNBA Most Valuable Player was notably upset, suggesting that the Aces weren't invited to the White House as is custom for sports champions.
Twitter not letting me quote tweet potus tweet but …BFFR when is our White House visit cause … pic.twitter.com/o9uc88Qg6U
— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) June 14, 2023
Even if it wasn't his intent, Biden's tweet speaks to a systemic dismissal of women's pro sports despite the increased television viewership and game attendance across multiple sports. It's not as if he nor the White House has failed shown support for the WNBA in years past, evidenced not only by their campaign to bring Brittney Griner home from her detainment in Russia, but even for more celebratory moments like when the Seattle Storm were the first team to visit the Oval Office since the end of Barack Obama's second term.
Yet as the centerpiece of Las Vegas' first champion and a true superstar in her own right, Wilson was understandably aggrieved by the tweet. In the likelihood that White House wants to make amends, the Aces will be in Washington, D.C. to play the Mystics on Aug. 26.
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