The Golden State Warriors will not be visiting the White House this season after the invitation to the traditional champion’s sojourn was revoked by President Donald Trump Saturday morning.
Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
A statement from the team said the team had intended to ‘collaboratively discuss’ the visit before the president ‘made it clear’ they were not invited:
“We believe there is nothing more American than our citizens having the right to express themselves freely on matters important to them.
“We’re disappointed that we did not have an opportunity during this process to share our views or have open dialogue on issues impacting our communities that we felt would be important to raise.”
Trump’s tweet comes as a response to Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry‘s comments during Friday’s media day in which the two-time MVP expressed his lack of desire to visit the current administration:
“My views haven’t changed at all. I don’t know if anybody’s changed. But that’s where I stand right now… I don’t want to go. That’s my nucleus of my belief.”
Although Curry made his own point of view very clear, the stance of the team as a whole regarding the matter was still believed to be up in the air.
Head coach Steve Kerr confirmed this by saying the team would meet to discuss their options over dinner on Friday night.
Kerr spoke about the importance of everyone’s voice to be heard in the decision, sweeping from the players on the roster, all the way to the executives in the front office and ownership:
“It’s important for everybody to express their views, not only players, but coaches, management and ownership… We will be deciding in the next couple of days what we want to do.”
Golden State’s public displeasure with Trump and the current administration has been addressed on multiple occasions since Trump was elected into office.
Curry, along with players like Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and David West have all voiced their disapproval of the President while pleading for change within the nation’s political climate.
Since the invitation has been withdrawn by President Trump, the only Warrior to respond has been Green, who took to Twitter almost immediately.
Still wondering how this guy is running our country…. 🤔🤔🤔
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) September 23, 2017
What route the Warriors would have decided to take on this matter has now become irrelevant as the choice has already been made for them.
Even the Warriors’ on-court nemesis, LeBron James, weighed in on Twitter:
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017
Instead of visiting the White House, the Warriors in their statement said:
“… we have decided that we’ll constructively use our trip to the nation’s capital in February to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion — the values that we embrace as an organization. “
Culled from sfbay
