The Golden State Warriors may have not yet decided whether they will accept a White House invite to commemorate their recently won NBA title. One prominent member of the Warriors, though, has already said he’ll pass.
On Wednesday, star guard Steph Curry said, “Somebody asked me about it a couple months ago, a hypothetical, if a championship were to happen: ‘What would I do?’” I think I answered that I wouldn’t go. I still feel like that today.”
There’s also plenty of reason to believe that Curry wouldn’t be the only player to sit out the trip. According to SFGate.com, “Backup point guard Shaun Livingston said during a radio interview in February that he “definitely wouldn’t go” to the White House if the Warriors won the championship.
Head coach Steve Kerr, one of the most politically conscious coaches in professional sports, has said the president’s proposed immigration ban is “against the principles of what our country is about.”
After Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said in February that having a pro-business president like Trump is “a real asset to our country,” Curry told the Bay Area News Group that “I agree with that description, if you remove the ‘et.’” Power forward David West has called Trump’s election “unnerving and unsettling.”
NBA basketball, perhaps more than any other sport, is dominated by individual stars and team leaders. If team leaders like Curry and Kerr decide not to go, it’s highly unlikely that many, if any, other members of the “Dubs” decide to attend.
Of course, with so many anti-Trump players and coaches on the team, it’s also highly likely the White House won’t extend the invite in the first place.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn