Spike Lee has a clear message for NBA champion New York Knicks about a possible trip to Washington: stay home.

In an interview with Variety, the filmmaker and longtime Knicks season-ticket holder said he hopes the team does not accept President Donald Trump’s invitation to the White House.

“He can’t force them!” Lee said of Knicks owner James Dolan. “It’s been years since the last NBA team has gone. They’re not going. I hope they don’t go! I hope they don’t go.”

The invitation has been a question mark since June.

Days after the Knicks clinched their first title in 53 years with a Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Dolan told WFAN that the team had received an invitation and accepted it. “I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House,” Dolan said, adding that Trump is “a friend” he has known for 30 years.

The White House confirmed the invitation to The Athletic and said it looks forward to hosting the team on a date to be determined.

Coach Mike Brown said in late September that the team was still discussing internally whether to attend.

History is on Lee’s side. If the Knicks go, they would be the first defending NBA champion to visit Trump during either of his terms.

All five title-winning teams with Trump in office have declined, including the Golden State Warriors, who won in 2017 and 2018. The 2021 Bucks, 2022 Warriors and 2024 Celtics did visit during Joe Biden’s presidency.

Lee, 69, also took aim at the owner’s relationship with the president. Dolan invited Trump to Game 3 of the Finals in his personal suite, which was fitted with bulletproof glass for the occasion, and the game was the Knicks’ only loss of the series.

It also snapped a 13-game playoff winning streak. Lee told Variety that Trump’s attendance was “no accident.” Dolan also let Trump use Madison Square Garden for a campaign rally before the 2024 election.

Asked how he squares being a die-hard fan of a team owned by a Trump friend, Lee compared Dolan to the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. “There were a lot of Yankees fans that didn’t like George Steinbrenner and his politics,” Lee said. Pressed that Steinbrenner did not bring a president to crucial games, he conceded the point. “He wasn’t,” Lee said. “But he was a Republican.”

He was just as direct about the Knicks’ championship documentary. Ben Stiller is directing a multi-part series with HBO, A24 and the NBA, and Lee said the choice was the owner’s. “Dolan gave it to him,” Lee said. “Look, it’s his team; he can do what he wants to do. Coulda woulda, but it’s his team. He also wants his team to go to the White House, too.”