Saturday, September 23, 2017

Donald Trump rescinds White House invitation to Stephen Curry, Warriors

You could see the end to this awkward dance between the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors and President Donald Trump coming from 140 characters away.

Less than a day after so many prominent members of the Warriors reiterated their stance that they didn’t want to visit to White House to celebrate their title, and just hours after Trump’s inciteful rally in Alabama where he took aim at NFL players who protest the national anthem, he wasted no time in taking to Twitter – again.

“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!” Trump tweeted.

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the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!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
Curry wasn’t the only one who had said as much previously, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Finals MVP Kevin Durant and others had expressed the same belief. But Curry, the two-time MVP whose voice carries more weight than any other inside the Warriors organization, was forceful in his stance at Warriors media day on Friday.

The Warriors and White House officials had engaged in "discussions" about a possible White House visit, according to general manager Bob Myers, with the team planning on meeting in the coming days to discuss the matter.



“I don’t want to go,” Curry had reiterated. “That’s kind of the nucleus of my belief…(But) it’s not just me going to the White House. If it was, this would be a pretty short conversation.”

When asked why he wants to skip the visit and what the intended message would be, Curry elaborated.
“That we don’t stand for basically what our President has – the things that he’s said and the things that he hasn’t said in the right times, that we won’t stand for it,” Curry said. “And by acting and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country and what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye to. It’s not just the act of not going there. There are things you have to do on the back end to actually push that message into motion.

“(Athletes are) all trying to do what we can. We’re using our platforms, using our opportunities to shed light on that, so that’s kind of where I stand on it. I don’t think us not going to the White House is going to miraculously make everything better, but this is my opportunity to voice that.”

Fariha Taj

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