Golden State Warriors skipping White House visit to spend time with local kids
Back in September of 2017, the Golden State Warriors had to make a decision about visiting the White House later on in the season. As is customary, the defending champion of all major American sports is invited to the President’s domain to showcase the trophy and take pictures (MLB’s champion the Houston Astros accepted the invitation in early January). It appears to be a loaded question to some athletes since Donald Trump became President. There have been instances of teams not accepting the invitation or some players refusing to join their team when they do go.
Stephen Curry, the face of the Warriors franchise, told reporters right away in September that, if it were his choice, he would not go to the White House. That led President Trump to send a tweet that rescinded the invitation. It made the decision easy for the champions. They all chose to support their star point guard and not go at all when they would eventually play in Washington D.C.
So now, before playing the Washington Wizards on February 28th at 8:00 pm ET, the Warriors will spend the day prior visiting local kids at an unnamed venue in an event that will be closed off from the media. Players, coaches and students will be on a private tour of an unarmed locale on February 27th. The reason was the players wanted the visit to be personal.
Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters: “It’s their championship. They got disinvited to the White House, so it’s up to them what they wanted to do. So they made their plans. I want the players to have a good day and to do something positive and to enjoy what they’re doing.”
The team was considering several options when going to the nation’s capital. One was to visit teammate Kevin Durant’s hometown of Seat Pleasant, Maryland, not too far away from the city. Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, two members of the Democratic Party and Pelosi representing the San Francisco district, extended invites to the Warriors to celebrate their second championship in three years at the U.S. Capitol.
However, the team wanted to avoid politicising the event so they respectfully declined those invitations as well.
“At the end of the day, it’s about us celebrating a championship, so there’s no point in getting into all the political stuff and all that,” forward Draymond Green said. “It’s about something we did great. Why make it about [politics]?”
Feature Image: Wikimedia
