With White House invitation withdrawn by Trump, Warriors reportedly will spend time in D.C. with local kids
It has been known for months that the Golden State Warriors would not visit the White House during their trip to Washington D.C. next week.
Instead, the defending NBA champions have other plans lined up. According to ESPN.com, the Warriors “have decided to go on a private tour of an undisclosed locale” chosen by the players. The team is staying tight-lipped about the specifics of the day, but ESPN is reporting that the Warriors players “selected a venue in which local kids would join them and it would be closed off the media.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr let the players choose the day’s agenda.
The scenario presented itself after several players said publicly that they would not visit the White House, as is customary for championship teams. Stephen Curry in particular, was outspoken (Kevin Durant, too), leading to President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the team’s invitation to the White House.
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the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!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
Following the president’s tweet (which prompted responses from LeBron James and other NBA players), the Warriors released the following statement:
“While we intended to meet as a team at the first opportunity we had this morning to collaboratively discuss a potential visit to the White House, we accept that President Trump has made it clear that we are not invited. We believe there is nothing more American than our citizens having the right to express themselves freely on matters important to them. We’re disappointed that we did not have an opportunity during this process to share our views or have open dialogue on issues impacting our communities that we felt would be important to raise.
“In lieu of a visit to the White House, we have decided that we’ll constructively use our trip to the nation’s capital in February to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion — the values that we embrace as an organization.”
The scheduled activity for the Warriors will take place on Feb. 27, a day before they take on the Washington Wizards.
The Warriors, 44-14 on the season, are currently second in the Westerm Conference standings, a half game behind the 44-13 Houston Rockets. Golden State will play its first game since returning from the all-star break at home Thursday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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