Lynx Commemorate 2017 Championship With Community Service
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - After winning their fourth WNBA championship in 2017, the Minnesota Lynx are celebrating their title differently in the nation's capital this year.
In years past, the WNBA champions were invited to the White House to meet the president. After that invitation failed to materialize this year, the Lynx decided to commemorate their championship with a day of community service Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
According to a press release from the team, players will participate in an event at Payne Elementary School with a nonprofit organization that gives shoes to children in need. The team says 30 percent of the school's students are considered homeless, and 100 percent fall under "low-income" status. All 340 students will receive shoes -- donated by Nike, Jordan Brand and DTLR Villa -- at the event.
The team is in the nation's capital to play the Washington Mystics Thursday afternoon.
In a news conference Tuesday, Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James criticized President Donald Trump for not inviting the team to the White House.
"For them not to even be invited — playing our beautiful game of basketball, those women, those girls are unbelievable in doing it — it's laughable," James said.