President Biden to invite Buccaneers, Lakers to White House 'when it's COVID safe'

Super Bowl 55 champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be invited to the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki announced Monday. 

“Very exciting, the outcome of the Super Bowl, I guess, if you're a fan of the Buccaneers," said Psaki.

"But we will be inviting – I don't have an update if it's happened yet – but I do have an update that we look forward to inviting the Buccaneers, as well as the 2020 NBA champions, the Lakers, to the White House when it is COVID safe, but I don't know when that will take place yet.”

If the Lakers accept their invitation, they will be the first NBA team to visit the White House since 2016, when the Golden State Warriors met with President Obama. 

President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, shared a message prior to Super Bowl 55, thanking frontline workers and encouraging the continuation of social distancing, mask-wearing and receiving the COVID vaccine when available.

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After the game, President Biden sent a congratulatory tweet to the Buccaneers:

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"Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on their #SuperBowl victory — a team whose season was a story of resilience, reinvention, and grit."

Contact Analis Bailey at aabailey@usatoday.com or on Twitter @analisbailey.