LeBron says 2018 NBA champion won’t be going to White House; Warriors agree
CLEVELAND — LeBron James was not surprised at president Donald Trump pulling the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles’ White House invitation and cancelling the ceremony the night before a small delegation was about to attend Tuesday.
“It’s typical of him, I’m not surprised,” James said during a press conference before Wednesday’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena.
Calling Trump a “bum” in September, James added that the 2018 NBA champion will not be visiting the White House, and he was supported by teammates and members of the Golden State Warriors.
“I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants the invite, anyway,” James said.
“I agree with that,” the Warriors’ Kevin Durant said. “What else do you expect Trump to do? When somebody says they don’t want to come to the White House, he disinvites them so the photo op don’t look bad.
“We get it at this point. It’s good that guys are sticking to what they believe in and what they want to do. Like guys said before me, I’m sure whoever wins this series won’t be going.”
Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, defensive end Chris Long and former Philadelphia receiver Torrey Smith were among those who had publicly said they would not visit the White House. Other stops around Washington had been planned, with players able to participate in whatever they chose. According to ESPN’s Don Van Natta, five or fewer players had committed to go to the White House and most, if not all of the black players were not going, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“We have a lot of freedom in our country. Guys — men or female — have the right to do what they want to do in a very respectful manner. I think if they decided they don’t want to go, then they
have the right,” James said.
The celebratory visits have been an issue in the NBA since the Warriors’ Stephen Curry said a year ago that he had no interest in going and James supported Curry on Twitter. The 2017 champion Warriors were disinvited by Trump before their planned team meeting to discuss the matter. When they went to Washington to play the Wizards this season, they instead spent a day with local children at an African-American history museum.
The Cavs pushed up their celebratory White House celebration of the 2016 championship so it could be made while Barack Obama was still in office.
Asked whether the divide is widening between athletes and the president, James said, “I think as long as he’s in office ... a lot of things that we believe in as Americans that we don’t feel that he’s for. There are a lot of people that believe that he’s not for the people or doing things that’s right by the people.
“So it’s not surprising hearing the news today with the Eagles. But I think more importantly, as Americans and especially people in Philadelphia, we shouldn’t let that news take away from what that unbelievable team did and accomplished, what all those players did to sacrifice throughout each and every Sunday, going out and playing
the style of football that they played and winning a Super Bowl the way they won it. Let’s not let that accomplishment of things that you will have for the rest of your life, and people will always call you a champion for the rest of your life, let’s not let someone uninviting you to their house take away from that moment.”
James said winning a championship in the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB or in college sports “is way bigger than getting invited to the White House, especially with him in there, in my opinion.”
James also took issue with the Minnesota Lynx not receiving an invitation after capturing the 2017 WNBA title.
“I think it’s laughable at this point. You always hear the saying: ‘You just laugh to stop you from crying.’ I think that’s a lot of the instances that are going on as far as outside of the sports world,” James said. “But we know how important sports is to our country and how it continues to bring people together, excite people, make people talk about it, no matter if it’s here on this stage here or on the streets or on the bus, in the barbershops, in coffee shops or wherever the case may be. We know sports is so big because it’s able to captivate people and bring people together.
“For them not to even be invited, playing our beautiful game of basketball — no matter if it’s the WNBA or NBA or little leagues or high school, whatever the case may be, it’s basketball. It’s our beautiful game. Those women, those girls, they’re unbelievable at doing it. I think it’s laughable, in my opinion.”