Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry and U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo Credit: ABC7
During the Golden State Warriors’ media day Warriors point guard Steph Curry was asked whether he and his team would visit the White House to celebrate winning their 2017 NBA Championship with current U.S. President Donald Trump.
Curry was adamant in expressing his disinterest in visiting the White House:
“I don’t want to go,” said Curry . “That’s kind of the nucleus of my belief…(But) it’s not just me going to the White House. If it was, this would be a pretty short conversation.”
When pressed further the Warriors All Star stated:
“We don’t stand for basically what our President has – the things that he’s said and the things that he hasn’t said in the right times, that we won’t stand for it,” Curry said. “And by acting and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country and what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye to. It’s not just the act of not going there. There are things you have to do on the back end to actually push that message into motion.”
Well, this morning President Trump let Curry know via Twitter that he wasn’t invited:
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!”
Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James ran to Curry’s aide stating: ‘U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!’
LeBron James responds to President Donald Trump’s tweets about Steph Curry
ESPN Sports Center anchor Jemele Hill who recently faced ridicule for her stance via social media on the President weighed in herself in a series of tweets.
ESPN anchor Jemele Hill weighs in on Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Retired NBA player Craig Hodges weighed in on the Warriors’ decision on Scoop B Radio. Hodges was blackballed by the NBA after he handed a letter to former U.S. President George H.W. Bush during the Bulls’ championship visit to the White House. The contents of the letter, according to Hodges made President Bush aware of the mistreatment of poor people and people of color in the United States.
“When I look at what the Warriors have decided to do, I guess not to go and because of Trump, I am somewhat dismayed,” Craig Hodges told me on Scoop B Radio.
“I feel like every American should get a chance to go to the White House. Because this is what you pay taxes for. You know, so you get a chance to see it and at the same time, I feel like it is a chance for you to go and air your grievances with the top man.”
Check out Craig Hodges Chat With Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson On The Warriors, Colin Kaepernick and more on Scoop B Radio.
Added Hodges:
“So I think there is a couple ways to be handling and you know, everyone has to do it their own personal way, but I feel like it is not an opportunity for every citizen of this country to get to do it and as a champion, it is something special to do. But at the same time I can understand the political slam as far as not going.”
Steph Curry is hardly the first member of the Warriors to voice his displeasure with President Trump and his administration. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been vocal as is Curry’s teammate Kevin Durant. When asked whether he’d visit the White House, Durant stated his claim also. “I don’t respect who’s in office right now,” Durant told the press over the summer.
“I don’t agree with what he agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not doing that. That’s just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they’ll all agree with me.”
Curry nor Durant are the first athletes to elect not to visit the White House.
Former New England Patriot Martellus Bennett and even Tom Brady were noticeably missing in D.C. when the Patriots stopped by the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl win.
In the past, NBA Hall of Famer and current Charlotte Hornets owner, Michael Jordan skipped the ritual in 1991 when George H.W. Bush was president. It’s been said that after the Chicago Bulls won their first championship, Jordan said: ‘F*** Bush I didn’t vote for him.’
Craig Hodges and Michael Jordan. Photo Courtesy of The Odyssey Online
“See that’s the part that MJ understood,” said Craig Hodges, Jordan’s former teammate in Chicago.
“You know, MJ is not publicly political but he can handle his affairs where he can make a political statement and when he didn’t come to the White House, it was a statement. But once again, there was no push back from any of his sponsors or any of that because he is who he is and he is the golden goose for a lot of marketers and endorsement companies. So it’s not a surprise that it didn’t come back. But I understood where he was coming from and that Bush wasn’t his homie but when Clinton was in office he hung out with Clinton and golfed with him so that let them know.”
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[…] Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson recently had the opportunity to speak with the two-time champion and former Chicago Bulls Three-Point Specialist Craig Hodges. The two discussed some other thoughts on the Colin Kaepernick battle with the National Football League and they have an in-depth conversation about Michael Jordan deciding not to visit the White House in 1991 after the Chicago Bulls won their first championship. […]