The Warriors will meet about a potential White House visit, but their two leaders want no part of the current administration
Two-time MVP Stephen Curry knows exactly what it would mean if the Golden State Warriors decline to visit The White House after winning an NBA championship in June.
“[It means] that we don’t stand for basically what our president has — the things that he’s said and the things that he hasn’t said at the right times — that we won’t stand for it,” Curry said during Warriors media day on Friday, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “By acting and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country, what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye toward. It’s not just the act of not going, there are things you have to do in the back end that you have to push that message into motion.
“You can talk about all the different personalities that have said things and done things — from Kaepernick to what happened with Michael Bennet to all sorts of examples of what has gone on in our country that has led to change. We’re all trying to do what we can using our platforms, using our opportunities to shed light on that. That’s kind of where I stand on that. I don’t think us going to the White House will miraculously make everything better, but this is my opportunity to voice that.”
2017 NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant was the first Warrior to publicly decline the opportunity to visit the White House, should the Trump administration extend an invitation. Days later Andre Iguodala answered the same question with simply, “Hell nah,” before deferring to Curry — the team’s leader — to make the decision.
Donald Trump’s response to a rally protesting the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Va., drew criticism from several professional athletes, including both LeBron James and Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon.
Since then, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the team will meet and discuss whether they will visit the White House.
“I’ve talked to a couple of them about it,” Kerr told ESPN, via The Washington Post. “There are a lot of different dynamics to this and different viewpoints. We’ve got players from all over the world and all over the country, and they’re going to have different perspectives, so I think it’s important for us all to get in a room and hash it out and decide what we want to do.”
Curry, though, appeared on ESPN’s The Jump with Rachel Nichols during Warriors media day. He’s siding with Kevin Durant, and it appears his mind is made up.
“We have an opportunity to send a statement that hopefully encourages unity, encourages us to appreciate what it means to be American, and stand for something,” he said, “so whatever your opinion is on either side; we just want to take advantage of this opportunity,