Champs get snub from White House

CLEVELAND — After completing a sweep of the Cavaliers on Friday night for their third NBA title in four years, the Warriors didn’t have to discuss whether to accept an invitation to the White House.

President Trump told reporters Friday morning that “we’re not going to invite either team,” referencing Golden State and Cleveland, for a visit to the White House.

“Man, it’s Game 4 of the Finals,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said when asked pregame Friday about Trump’s decision. “We’re going to focus on the game tonight. So, thank you for asking.”

Trump’s statement came three days after Cleveland’s LeBron James said neither the Cavaliers nor the Warriors would accept an offer to celebrate an NBA championship with the president, an assertion that Golden State’s two former MVPs, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, backed up.

“I hope to be in that situation and win two more games where we win a championship and obviously know what comes with that,” Curry said before Game 3. “But I think I agree with LeBron. Pretty sure the way we handled things last year, kind of stay consistent with that.”

In September, after Curry told reporters at the team’s media day that he’d prefer not to attend the White House to celebrate the team’s 2017 NBA title, Trump tweeted: “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”

Hours later, the Warriors released a statement that the players accepted that they were not invited and that they were “disappointed” they did not have the chance to open a dialogue on issues “impacting our communities that we felt would be important to raise.”

Instead of visiting the White House during their late-February trip to Washington to play the Wizards, members of the Warriors visited the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture with students from Durant’s hometown of Seat Pleasant, Md.

Earlier this week, Trump canceled a scheduled visit by the Philadelphia Eagles to commemorate their Super Bowl win after most of the players decided they’d skip it. Trump, who spoke Friday before leaving for the G-7 summit in Canada, said he’d be happy to host the Washington Capitals, who won the Stanley Cup on Thursday.

But “if they don’t want to be here,” he added, “I don’t want them.”