Recently, Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant said that he will not visit the White House to celebrate the Warriors championship as long as U.S. President Donald Trump is in office.
That visit, is a ritual for teams who come off of winning a championship the previous season.
“Nah, I won’t do that,” said Durant. “I don’t respect who’s in office right now.”
Durant told ESPN’s Chris Haynes:
“I don’t agree with what he agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not doing that,” said Durant, who said it wasn’t an organizational decision. “That’s just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they’ll all agree with me.”
Former Chicago Bulls forward Craig Hodges weighed in on the matter in a recent interview on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
Hodges was blackballed by the NBA after he handed a letter to former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in 1991 when the Bulls made their visit. The letter made President Bush aware of the mistreatment of poor people and people of color in the United States.
“Well for me, I tell people it was one of the coolest days in my life man,” Craig Hodges told Scoop B Radio’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. “I have always looked at the place that the White House is and understanding the power that it holds. But also that it is a museum and I am a historian.”
As for the Warriors?
“When I look at what the Warriors have decided to do, I guess not to go and because of Trump, I am somewhat dismayed that you, I feel like every American should get a chance to go to the White House,because this is what you pay taxes for. You know, so you get a chance to see it and at the same time, I feel like it is a chance for you to go and air your grievances with the top man. So I think there is a couple ways to be handling and you know, everyone has to do it their own personal way, but I feel like it is not an opportunity for every citizen of this country to get to do it and as a champion, it is something special to do. But at the same time I can understand the political slam as far as not going.”
