WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President Joe Biden, Secret Service code name: Celtic, welcomed Coach Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics to the White House Thursday to celebrate the team’s unprecedented 18th NBA championship.
Biden welcomed the NBA’s 2024 champions and gave them a tour of the Oval Office. In all, the league’s most-decorated franchise has won at least one title in eight of the last 13 presidential administrations.
“The Celtics aren’t just a basketball team. They’re a way of life,” Biden told the crowd, quoting Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach before receiving a No. 46 jersey from All-Star Jayson Tatum and guard Derrick White.
Biden, who was once one of the youngest senators in U.S. history and is now the country’s oldest president ever, said he felt a kinship with Mazzulla, who was 35 when he led the Celtics to the title in his second season.
“Joe’s the youngest head coach to win a title since the great Bill Russell,” Biden said. “I told him I used to be the youngest and now I’m the oldest. I liked being the youngest better.”
Biden also received a commemorative basketball, which he tossed to Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who was sitting in the front row.
The Celtics won 64 games in the regular season last and then eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in five games for the championship.
“He told them it was a bittersweet moment because he wished his Celtics were here. And they said to him, ‘Don’t worry, they’ll be here soon,’” Zarren said. “So, for him, it was a good moment to see us show up inside there.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
