CHAMP WARRIORS WON’T VISIT TRUMP WHITE HOUSE
The president’s decision to withdraw invitation brings Warriors into middle of national debate
President withdrew a White House invitation because Warriors star Steph Curry was “hesitating.” “(The president) was going to break up with us before we could break up with him,” quipped coach Steve Kerr. The Warriors wanted a chance to talk the issue over as a team. No such luck.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Donald Trump picked a fight on Twitter.
The president of the United States, the socalled leader of the free world, carrying all of the responsibilities of that office and position, decided that he needed to call out Stephen Curry on social media before the sun came up here on the West Coast Saturday morning.
In doing so, the president picked a fight with the entire Golden State Warriors’ franchise.
And that’s a fight he cannot win.
Because if there’s one team in the world that’s equipped to handle a ridiculous, unprecedented, media duel with Trump, it’s the Warriors.
The Dubs deal with that kind of stuff every day. They’re well-rehearsed. Taking on Trump was child’s play.
The context of the situation is absurd and, frankly, sad. Per-
haps we shouldn’t have expected any better.
The crux is this: Trump revoked an invitation for Curry to visit the White House in his tweet Saturday. It doesn’t matter that the Warriors were never technically invited, or that had they been invited, they were never going to accept the invitation — Trump, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr put it: “broke up with us before we broke up with him.”
The Warriors were planning on discussing and voting on the White House visit on Saturday. Everyone had a good idea what the end result would be, but the Warriors wanted to make sure that everyone could speak their mind on the issue.
Trump took the matter out of their hands with his tweet.
In many ways, the president did the Warriors a favor — by removing the onus from the Warriors, they won’t have to face a season of questions about their decision to not go to the White House.
But he also forced the Warriors to respond to his comments, not only about Curry, but about the NFL’s peaceful protests, and Charlottesville, too.
In doing so, the Warriors were thoughtful, authentic, and pitch-perfect.
Round one to Golden State.
What struck me most about the Warriors’ comments Saturday was how disappointed they were — not in the fact that they wouldn’t be able to go to the White House (again, they wouldn’t have gone had they actually been invited) but in the situation as a whole.
“We’re going to try to be mature about the situation, be grown-ups, keep moving on,” David West said. “It’s sad, you know — there’s got to be maturity, across the board.”
Draymond Green, Curry, Kerr, and general manager Bob Myers all handled themselves with that “maturity” West referenced, but it was the 37-year-old forward’s nine-minute media session that resonated strongest Saturday.
Green had been to the White House. So had Curry. Steve Kerr could lose track of how many times he’s gone, he’s won so many titles.
West has never been. In the closing moments of Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals, when it was clear that the Warriors were going to claim the title, the cameras panned to Kevin Durant. That makes sense — it was his first title and his story was the predominant narrative of the season.
But they should have panned to West.
The two-time AllStar labored for 14 years, played more than 30,000 minutes, and sacrificed millions of dollars to win his first NBA title.
He deserved the full championship experience, and while a White House visit seems trivial — it is part of that championship experience.
And had anyone else been in the Oval Office, he would have been excited to go.
The Warriors weren’t given the chance to discuss and vote on a White House visit, but had they, West would have sided with Curry, Durant, and Andre Iguodala in saying “no”. It’s understandable, but it’s also a shame that he could never entertain the notion of partaking in a photo op with the president.
To West, it’s all about respect. And why would he want to smile for a photo with someone he believes doesn’t respect him?
“Just think about this: all of us, if we’re in this professional athletic arena, we’re in the highest tax bracket in the land,” West said. “I don’t think people take that into account. Oftentimes you hear people qualify their statements by saying `I’m a taxpayer’ or `I’m a citizen’ or “I’m a mother or father’ as if black people aren’t those things.”
“The office of the White House is supposed to have some tact, some sort of dignity... I don’t think we have anything that’s he’s done that we can say to our children `emulate this’.”
West and the rest of the Warriors handled themselves in a manner that should be emulated, though.
Trump’s comments on peaceful protests in the NFL — he called players who take a knee “sons of bitches” who should be fired on the spot — could well lead to more professional athletes speaking out about the president and his administration in the coming weeks and months.
One can hope those athletes follow the lead of the Warriors.
The Warriors had no problem standing up for their values and beliefs on Saturday, speaking clearly about the situation at hand and expressing their true feelings on it. Whether you agree with their stances or not, it’s unimpeachable that they represented themselves with far more tact than the president.
Again, if we’re keeping score in Trump vs. the Warriors, Golden State is ahead.
And with Trump seemingly wanting to take on professional athletes everywhere – what else can you infer from his comments on the NFL? — I can’t help but think that the Warriors would be happy to be at the vanguard that resistance, too.
Yes, basketball season is about to start, but a much more important game is afoot.
And if the Warriors are leading the way, you’d have to think they’ll win that game too.