Donald Trump Disinvites Warriors To White House

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Overview

Donald Trump Disinvites Warriors To White House refers to President Donald Trump withdrawing his invitation to the Golden State Warriors, who were champions of the 2016-2017 NBA Season, after learning their team's star point guard, Steph Curry, was hesitant on accepting the invitation. Trump's withdrawal breaks an American custom since the 1960s that a championship sports team from major sporting leagues visits the White House after their victory. The withdrawal prompted strong responses from NBA players against Trump.

Background

On Friday, September 22nd, 2017, Warriors point guard clearly stated he did not want to go to the White House for the customary visit, saying "I don’t want to go. That’s the nucleus of my belief. If it was just me, it would be a pretty short conversation."^[2] On Saturday, September 23rd, Donald Trump tweeted "Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!"^[1]

Developments

While it was initially unclear if Trump meant Curry's invitation was withdrawn or the entire team's, the Warriors later confirmed that the entire team's invitation was withdrawn.^[3] They said they would instead use the time they intended to use for the visit to "celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion -- the values that we embrace as an organization."

LeBron James "U Bum" Tweet

Several NBA players spoke against Trump's comments. Most notably, NBA superstar LeBron James tweeted "U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!",^[4] gaining over 650,000 retweets and 1.4 million likes.

James also further elaborated on his tweet in a video for Uninterrupted (shown below).

"It’s not about dividing. We as American people need to come together even stronger.” -- KingJames</a> responds to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">realDonaldTrump’s comments. pic.twitter.com/UHpzXpb42K
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) September 23, 2017

Kobe Bryant also came out with strong words against the President, saying "A #POTUS whose name alone creates division and anger. Whose words inspire dissension and hatred can't possibly "Make America Great Again","^[5] gaining over 170,000 retweets and 359,000 likes (shown below).

Still, most media attention focused on James' and Curry's comments. Sports Illustrated^[6] said both players short and honest responses to Trump showed him "exactly what he deserves." The New York Times^[7] gave a more straightforward report of the events, focusing on James' tweet.