Rivals LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors have managed to agree on something: No matter which team wins the NBA championship, neither one of them plans to visit the White House if invited by President Donald Trump.
“I know whoever wins this series, no one wants an invite anyway,” James told reporters on Tuesday.
“I agree with ’Bron,” Curry said at a separate news conference. “Pretty sure the way we handled things last year, kinda staying consistent with that.”
When the Warriors won the NBA championship last year, Curry indicted he would not attend a planned White House ceremony, prompting Trump to disinvite the team via Twitter.
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team,” the president tweeted in September. “Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”
At the time, James called out Trump on Twitter, saying he couldn’t disinvite Curry... because Curry wasn’t going to attend anyway:
Curry’s Warriors lead James’ Cavaliers, 2-0, in the finals. Game Three is Wednesday night in Cleveland.
It’s the fourth consecutive year that the two teams have met in the finals.
Trump this week cancelled a White House celebration for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, claiming it was because “they disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem.”
However, many of the team’s players were not planning to attend.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Trump’s behavior wasn’t surprising.
“The president has made it pretty clear he’s going to try to divide us, all of us, in this country for political gain,” he said. “We all look forward to the day we can go back to just having a celebration of athletic achievement.”
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