Will The Golden State Warriors Go To The White House? Meeting With Donald Trump Appears Unlikely

Contrary to earlier reports, it appears that the Golden State Warriors have not yet made a decision regarding whether or not they will appear at the White House. A spokesperson said the team hasn’t formally chosen to turn down an invitation to meet with President Donald Trump.

“Today is all about celebrating our championship,” the Warriors told Business Insider. “We have not received an invitation to the White House, but will make those decisions when and if necessary.”

READ: What Members Of The New England Patriots Skipped White House Visit?

This comes after a report Tuesday morning claimed that Golden State had unanimously decided not to make the trip. However, that doesn’t mean the Warriors won’t choose to do just that in the near future.

Several members of the 2017 NBA champions have been outspoken in their criticism of Trump. Head coach Steve Kerr has arguably been the most outspoken person associated with the team, continuing to take the President to task even well after making his feelings known following the election’s conclusion.

“Frankly, I think it’s why Trump couldn’t be more ill-suited to be president, because he’s a blowhard,” Kerr told Sports Illustrated in May. “You don’t see some of the qualities you talk about, the resilience, the ability to communicate, the compassion. None of that. But in the old days, a lot of great coaches who maybe didn’t have those, there was still a fiber there, whatever it was. To be a great leader, there have to be some qualities in there.

“Has anyone ever thought that Donald Trump was a great leader?”

As far as players go, power forward David West made it clear that he’s not a fan of Trump.

“All the tactics that he used to get elected are the very things that someone like me, who works with youth on a consistent basis, are the things that we try to talk our young folks out of being,” West said on CSN Bay Area’s “The Warriors Insider Podcast” earlier this year. “We try to talk our young people out of being bullies. We try to talk our young men out of disrespecting women. We try to talk our young people into being accepting of other people’s opinions and other people’s walks of life.

“And he is the complete opposite of all of that.”

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 were to win the championship, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Stephen Curry let it be known that he didn’t agree with Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank’s assessment that Trump is a “real asset” to the country in that same month.

READ: Can Anyone Beat The Warriors in 2018?

The Warriors would be the first team in the four major sports leagues to completely skip a meeting with the President. Certain members of the New England Patriots didn’t go to the White House following their 2017 Super Bowl victory, though the team’s overall attendance was similar to 2015 when the team won the championship and Barack Obama was in office.

Golden State beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games in the 2017 NBA Finals, winning the rubber match of their third straight meeting. The team met with Obama when they defeated LeBron James and the Cavs in 2015.