On Saturday morning, after feuding with the NFL the previous night, President Donald Trump took aim at the NBA. In a tweet — naturally — he “disinvited” Stephen Curry from the typical White House visit that most sports championship teams make after their trophy.
The 6 most important things the Warriors said in response to Donald Trump
The Warriors won’t be going to The White House, but they’ll get their message across one way or another.
Curry had said Friday that he wouldn’t visit the White House if he were invited, beating Trump to the punch.
The Warriors had planned to meet on Saturday as a team to discuss whether they would visit the White House, but instead released this statement saying they would “constructively use our trip to the nation’s capitol in February to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion.”
Then, Warriors players and coaches elaborated after the team’s first training-camp practice. Here are the most significant.
Stephen Curry stood by everything he said Friday
On Friday, Curry said he supported skipping the White House visit and orchestrating a separate trip to send a message of unity and equality. He made sure to note, however, that the team had to meet before their stance could become official.
The president, obviously, decided not to invite Curry and (ostensibly) the Warriors anyway, but the two-time MVP made it clear his stance hadn’t changed overnight.
“It’s kind of funny that [the president’s] tweet was sent out before we had a chance to get together as a team,” Curry said. “It is what it is. My stance is the same [as] yesterday. I’m trying to cement that even further.”
Steph Curry on athletes speaking out
Several NBA players, including LeBron James, Chris Paul and Bradley Beal, tweeted their disgust with the president’s decision to chide Curry for his opinion on The White House. Curry seemed thankful for the support he received but reiterated the Warriors are trying to come together to send one unified message.
“There’s obviously things that you have to react to and respond to,” Curry said, “but people are rallying around each other is huge. That’s what we have the opportunity to do.”
Steve Kerr on why the team says Warriors couldn’t put aside political difference because “these are not ordinary times”
Kerr was a five-time NBA champion with the Bulls and Spurs during his playing days, and visited The White House during each of those Finals victories. While he may not have agreed with the presidents in office at the time, he said he put his differences aside because of his respect for the office. That respect seems to have gone out the door.
“We would, in normal times, very easily be able to set aside political differences and go visit, have a great time, and be awesome,” Kerr said. “These are not ordinary times. Probably the most divisive times in my life, probably since [The Vietnam War].”
Draymond Green says Curry “made it” by feuding with the president
The same guy who laughed in Kevin Durant’s face after he was caught arguing with fans on fake Instagram and Twitter accounts just said Steph Curry “made it” after being singled out by the president.
“I’m pretty sure [president] is the highest position you can sit in in this country. Maybe in the world,” Green said. “Steph, you made it.”
Classic Draymond.
Steve Kerr threw Trump’s own words back at him
When Trump was tasked with condemning white nationalist and Nazi rallies in Charlottesville, VA, where one counter-protestor named Heather Heyer was killed, he said there were “very fine people on both sides.”
David West called Trump a “mirror for America”
It’s sad, you know. There’s gotta be some maturity across the board. And we talked about that as a group, just being the more mature individuals in this situation. We’ll take the mature across. Obviously, there’s great division in this nation right now. It’s always existed.
I think Trump has become the greatest mirror for America. My cousin, we had a conversation, and she brought that to me. I think there’s been a lot of things that have been in the dark, hidden, and he’s just bold enough to put it out on front street. But I don’t think the nation as a whole is willing to accept his pulling us backwards, his pulling us to a time where everyone didn’t have a shot. And we still have a long ways to go in that regards, but we’re going to mature about who we are, represent ourselves in the best way possible.
West continued:
West hit several nails on the head at once as the Warriors opened training camp. He’s always been one of the more socially conscious athletes, and his stance on the Trump administration’s consistent divisiveness across the nation is an example of that.
The tradition of visiting the White House and the Trump presidency
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