Imagine the excitement felt as a member of a championship sports team who is going to be honored at the White House. The president and first lady extended the invitation to the WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces. The team visited the White House on Friday.

Then an unexpected thing happened. The president and first lady decided to extend their vacation in Lake Tahoe for an extra day instead of showing up as the hosts for the team’s visit. The last-minute change of plans included Kamala Harris and her husband stepping up to fill in for Joe and Jill Biden. Joe and Jill ghosted the WNBA champions.

The Las Vegas Aces are the first professional Nevada sports team to win a title. The Aces won the 2022 WNBA championship. The team’s star player, A’ja Wilson, scored 53 points in a game Tuesday over the Atlanta Dream. That tied the WNBA single-game scoring record. Three days later, she and the team were at the White House.

That AKA LOVE 💖💚

Sorors @_ajawilson22 and VP @KamalaHarris at the White House

What a special moment between 2x M’VP and 2022 WNBA Champion, A’ja Wilson and the Vice President pic.twitter.com/rZYdtiapQV

— WNBA (@WNBA) August 25, 2023

This change is all the more awkward because A’ja Wilson had to poke the president on social media to get the invitation in the first place. Remember, they won the WNBA championship in 2022. Wilson asked when the team would be invited to the White House after Biden congratulated the Vegas Golden Knights on winning the Stanley Cup.

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

So, Kamala did the hosting honors and singled out several players for individual praise. Wilson was one, and she got special attention because she is a sorority sister of the vice-president’s, besides being a star player.

Harris acknowledged Wilson’s career achievements, including an NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship with South Carolina, a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, WNBA MVP titles in 2020 and 2022, and her 53-point game.

Kamala also praised the team for their work off the basketball court.

The Vice President made specific note of the Aces’ advocacy for fellow WNBA player Brittney Griner. Griner was detained in Russia last year on drug charges before being brought back to the United States in a prisoner exchange last December. Harris also mentioned the Aces’ advocacy for equal pay, mental health, and providing resources to underserved students, per ESPN.

ok, that was a fun experience 🥹 thank you @VP for having us 🫶🏾

— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) August 25, 2023

It seems like someone should ask the White House press secretary or the president himself why he suddenly extended his vacation (the second one this month) an extra day. Why did he and Jill come back to the White House on Saturday and not Friday?

“When they initially announced this event, it said the president and the first lady were going to host the Aces today,” Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy said Friday.

“But then, they extended their vacation. They were supposed to get back yesterday, but now they won’t get back until tomorrow. So that is how you wind up getting feted at the White House by the vice president instead of by the president.

“We don’t know what he’s doing today, but his motorcade is on the move somewhere in the South Lake Tahoe area.”

The AP also reported that the White House announcement “several weeks ago” said the Bidens would host the Aces, but that they delegated to the vice president after extending their vacation.

Is Biden ill? He didn’t look great when he visited Maui at the beginning of his Lake Tahoe vacation. He even fell asleep during a memorial service. This White House is not transparent on much of anything, though Biden promised it would be, so we don’t know why the travel plans were delayed. Maybe he wanted to get in one more Pilates workout before going back to D.C.

For a man who is all about equality and inclusion, slighting a majority black women’s basketball team isn’t a great look. Maybe the team visit just wasn’t important enough to care.