President-elect Donald Trump has once again suggested he wants to revert the name of North America’s tallest mountain — Alaska's Denali — to Mount McKinley, wading into a sensitive and decades-old conflict about what the peak should be called.
Former President Barack Obama changed the official name to Denali in 2015 to reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives as well as the preference of many Alaska residents. The federal government in recent years has endeavored to change place-names considered disrespectful to Native people.
“Denali” is an Athabascan word meaning “the high one" or “the great one.” A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak “Mount McKinley” after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. That name was formally recognized by the U.S. government until Obama changed it over opposition from lawmakers in McKinley's home state of Ohio.
Trump suggested in 2016 that he might undo Obama's action, but he dropped that notion after Alaska's senators objected. He raised it again during a rally in Phoenix on Sunday.
“McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,” Trump said Sunday. “They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people.”
Once again, Trump's suggestion drew quick opposition within Alaska.
“Uh. Nope. It’s Denali,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Kawasaki posted on the social platform X Sunday night.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who for years pushed for legislation to change the name to Denali, conveyed a similar sentiment in a post of her own.
“There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski wrote on X.
Various tribes of Athabascan people have lived in the shadow of the 20,310-foot (6,190-meter) mountain for thousands of years.
McKinley, a Republican native of Ohio who served as the 25th president, was assassinated early in his second term in 1901 in Buffalo, New York.
Alaska and Ohio have been at odds over the name since at least the 1970s. Alaska had a standing request to change the name since 1975, when the legislature passed a resolution and then-Gov. Jay Hammond appealed to the federal government.
Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round, with powerful winds that make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it.
Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.
FILE - A boat is seen on the Susitna River near Talkeetna, Alaska, on Sunday, June 13, 2021, with Denali in the background. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference and has a MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Milwaukee has the NBA's leading scorer in Giannis Antetokounmpo. They were the teams that made their way to the NBA Cup final.
By any measure, they're both very good teams.
And neither will play on Christmas Day this year. Bah, humbug.
In its defense, the NBA faces the same challenge every summer, figuring out which 10 teams will get the honor — and it is an honor — of playing on Christmas Day.
The Knicks and Lakers almost always find their way onto the slate, which makes sense given the size of the New York and Los Angeles media markets. The teams coming off runs to the NBA Finals typically get a Christmas invite, so hello, Boston and Dallas. The rest is a mix of stars, ratings potential, storylines and, hopefully, good teams.
Victor Wembanyama — the French star who already is a massive draw both in the U.S. and Europe — makes his Christmas debut when San Antonio goes to New York. Minnesota plays Dallas in a West finals rematch. Boston plays Philadelphia, a forever rivalry. The Lakers play Golden State, LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. And Denver plays Phoenix in the nightcap. Nobody could have said those games were Christmas mistakes when the schedule came out.
It's also a sign of the parity in the NBA right now — there are clearly more than 10 teams worthy of Christmas consideration. That said, the Thunder and Bucks certainly have the right to feel snubbed.
“We should’ve had a Christmas day game, I believe, but the NBA felt different,” Bucks guard Khris Middleton said on media day, back in September. “That’s how they feel. I said my opinion on it. And sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”
The Thunder not getting picked is puzzling, especially after being the No. 1 seed in the West last season.
This is the 17th consecutive season of the NBA having five games on Christmas Day. More often than not — 75% of the time — the No. 1 seeds for the East and West playoffs have been picked for a Christmas game the following season. And entering this year, each of the previous 11 No. 1 seeds in the West playoffs wound up having a game on Dec. 25 that same year.
But not the Thunder.
“Disappointed, for sure," Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I'd love to play on Christmas Day. And I think we're that caliber of team. The NBA makes their decisions. Can't slight them for it. Ball's in our court to prove to them why we deserve to be in that game.”
There have been reasons for some of the eight No. 1 seeds who got snubbed in that span to get snubbed. Some examples:
— Cleveland was the East's No. 1 seed in 2010. LeBron James left Cleveland that summer and went to Miami, and the Cavaliers became a far-less-marketable team overnight so putting them on the Christmas schedule wouldn't have made much sense.
— Indiana was the East's No. 1 seed in 2014. Paul George got hurt badly while playing for USA Basketball that summer and the Pacers weren't the same the following the season, which the schedule-makers probably realized could happen.
— Toronto was the East's No. 1 seed in 2018. Toronto didn't make the Christmas list a few months later for the simple reason that the Raptors are from Canada, and Canadian viewers don't count in American television ratings. (The then-reigning NBA champion Raptors made the Christmas lineup in 2019.)
None of those situations would apply to the Thunder.
Oklahoma City is a small market, sure. Only Memphis and New Orleans are smaller among NBA cities in the U.S., according to Nielsen. It's easy to deduce that national ratings play a part in the decision of who plays on Christmas and who doesn't, but it's also clear that those who just want to see good ball on Dec. 25 probably would have tuned in for a Thunder game.
“They make the schedule. We play it,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Our players, I know, would have liked to play on Christmas because that's such a staple day in the NBA season. But we can't control that. All we can control is playing the schedule we're given, playing the hand we're dealt.”
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Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) bites his NBA Cup medal after his team's victory in the championship game of the NBA Cup basketball tournament against the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith (24) defends Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
