On Monday night, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 129 to 120. The victory solidified Golden State as one of the most dominant franchises in professional sports, and helped the team overcome its devastating loss in last year’s finals after a three-game-to-one lead. According to one report, the newly-christened NBA champs aren’t looking to share their victory with President Trump.
Tuesday morning, CNBC analyst and CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, Josh Brown, tweeted that the Warriors had unanimously decided to decline a White House visit if invited by President Trump. The Warriors met with President Obama at the White House after winning the 2015 NBA Finals.
NBA champion Warriors skipping the White House visit, as a unanimous team decision per reports.
— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) June 13, 2017
After the tweet, the team released a statement neither confirming nor denying the report:
“Today is about celebrating our championship. We have not received an invitation to the White House, but will make those decisions when and if necessary.”
Although professional athletes have rejected invites to the White House for political reasons in the past, it seems to be more commonplace after Trump’s election. In February, only 34 of the 68 Super Bowl champion New England Patriots attended the event. Although Monday, most of the NCAA-champion Clemson Tigers attended a White House celebration. A few players did not attend it due to NFL obligations. “Nowadays everybody tries to make everything political,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “This isn’t a political trip. This isn’t a fundraiser for a certain party or candidate. This is a celebration of what our team achieved last year. It’s been a national tradition for a long, long time.”
Although no one on the Warriors has spoken publicly about a potential White House trip, two of the team’s players, Steph Curry and David West, as well head coach Steve Kerr, have been vocal about their disdain for the president in the past. After Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank remarked that Trump’s presidency would be a “real asset” for the country, Curry replied, “I agree with that description, if you remove the ‘et’ from asset.” West has called Trump’s election “disappointing” and “disheartening” while Kerr has chastised Trump for using “racist, misogynist, insulting words.” Racism and misogyny sound like pretty solid reasons for declining an invitation to anyone’s house, even if it is the President of the United States.
