The Golden State Warriors have been making political statements for a long time. Steve Kerr has spoken out against President Donald J. Trump’s policies since the election. David West, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green have criticized Trump. Even mild-mannered Stephen Curry called him an “ass” on the record. Few sports teams are more rehearsed in the practice of political protest these days than the Warriors.
It’s not the Warriors’ responsibility to visit the White House
If Golden State’s players feel the need to make a visit, it should be their choice alone.
With the Warriors winning the NBA championship, they have the opportunity for the grandest athlete-driven political protest of the Trump era to date. It could take the form of refusing to accept an invitation to visit the White House, should such an invitation even come. Or they could accept an invitation and use their access to the most powerful man in the world to speak their minds.
The latter is what NBA commissioner Adam Silver has previously offered as a rationale to accept the invitation, saying, “that’s an opportunity that most citizens who have a political point of view would kill for — the opportunity to directly tell the President of the United States how they feel about an issue.”
One wonders if Silver actually wants Draymond Green to directly tell the President of the United States how he feels about an issue — say, the gutting of civil rights enforcement in federal agencies — or if he just wants the champions to accept an invitation first and then feel the pressure to stay quiet once there. We don’t really know.
The Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins argues that in such a deeply divided time, handshakes and photo ops are the real form of protest. It is as if Jenkins believes that Warriors should be upset at political polarity instead of the actual policies being implemented, promised, or threatened. It is as if Jenkins believes that Trump is not responsible for fixing the culture of contempt, but that the Warriors are.
Kerr, whose father was assassinated in Lebanon, has been vocal about his objection to Trump’s Muslim travel ban. (As it turns out, judges have found the United States Constitution also objects to Trump’s Muslim travel ban.) Is Kerr’s duty to his convictions or about pursuing some academic theory of collective pluralism?
Trump rose to political notoriety by insisting that the first black president of the United States was not an American citizen. He persisted despite the president releasing his own birth certificate. This was a racist campaign to undermine the nation’s first black president, and it proved to be a bucket of lies. Trump has never apologized for waging this campaign.
Why do Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, David West, Andre Iguodala, and the rest of the Warriors — 14 of the 15 of whom are black, with the other being an immigrant — need to go pay him some respect for the cause of civility? That’s not the responsibility of a basketball team. That’s the responsibility of the President of the United States.
What’s even more maddening about Jenkins’ thesis is that it supposes that civility would reign if only some critics of the president would engage with him. There is no evidence this is true. In fact, there is evidence that this is false. Political polarity grew to unprecedented levels during Barack Obama’s tenure, despite major efforts for civility over division. Empathy is noble and important, but handshakes aren’t the solution.
Moreover, this is way beyond the Warriors. Golden State can do literally anything on the basketball court. But the idea that the Warriors are equipped to solve this incredible political crisis within a 10-minute photo op is ridiculous.
What the Warriors should do is whatever they decide to do. If that means refusing a visit, that is their prerogative. If that means visiting but protesting in some way at the White House, that is their prerogative. If that means visiting, and smiling, and shaking hands and giving Trump a No. 45 jersey, that is their prerogative.
This is a choice for that team to make, regardless of the state of the union or the needs of its people. Choosing to decline will not plunge the country deeper into incivility. Choosing to visit will not solve the nation’s ills. This American crisis is well beyond even the enormous abilities of the Golden State Warriors.
