Biden celebrates WNBA champs Seattle Storm

President Biden welcomed members of professional women’s basketball team the Seattle Storm to the White House on Monday to celebrate their 2020 championship, recognizing them for inspiring women and girls and engaging in advocacy work off the court.

“In the WNBA, amidst a year unlike any other, this team met the moment,” Biden said in prepared remarks from the East Room of the White House. “Sweeping through the playoffs and finals against Minnesota and Las Vegas and six wins and no losses.”

Seattle defeated the Las Vegas Aces in the 2020 championship last year, a record-tying fourth championship for a WNBA team. The team also won in 2004, 2010 and 2018.

Biden noted that three of the Storm’s players — Sue Bird, Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart — also represented the U.S. in Tokyo this year as members of the Olympic team.

After marveling at the team’s work last season, he recognized the players for undertaking efforts to encourage vaccines, advocate for racial justice and voting rights, and protect transgender people.

“What makes this team remarkable is they don’t just win games; they change lives,” Biden said. “That’s what winners do. They shine the light. They lift people up. They’re a force for change. That’s the Seattle Storm. That’s the WNBA. That’s what they do.”

Biden commended the team for setting an example for women and girls and emphasized the need for Americans to support women in sports. He also mentioned Vice President Harris, the first female vice president, who is currently on a trip to Singapore and Vietnam.

“We’re going to have some presidents pretty soon,” Biden said.

Crystal Langhorne, retired two-time WNBA champion, briefly spoke during the event about the team’s social justice initiative, Force4Change, which was established last year to combat racism and support equity.

Bird presented Biden with a jersey at the end of the event.

All the players and attendees wore face masks, in accordance with updated federal guidance on masking during the COVID-19 pandemic. They even wore masks as they posed for a photo with Biden, who kneeled in front of the women for the photo.

Seattle is the third professional sports team Biden has welcomed to the White House since taking office in January. It represented the first time in several years that a WNBA team visited the White House; no WNBA teams visited under former President Trump.