President Trump has once again ruffled the feathers of sports figures and fans across America. Recently, the Commander in Chief withdrew his invite to the Super Bowl Champion Philadephia Eagles and canceled their celebration ceremony after only a handful of players committed to attend the White House ceremony according to ESPN. The invite is likely to not be extended to the winner of the current NBA Finals, and that’s ok according to LeBron James who spoke for both teams in stating that neither side would want an invite.
Media sessions for the NBA Finals are ongoing today (June 5) in Cleveland before Game 3 and the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar was questioned on his opinion regarding Trump’s decision. James responded, “It’s typical of (Trump); I’m not surprised. I know whoever wins this series, us or Golden State, no one wants an invite.”
In separate press conferences, Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry and their coach Steve Kerr both agreed with the sentiments of King James.
“The president has made it pretty clear he’s going to try to divide us, all of us in this country, for political gain. It’s just the way it is. We all look forward to the day we can go back to just having a celebration of athletic achievement,” Kerr added.
If you recall, The Warriors were also on the receiving end of Trump’s decisions in the past being uninvited from The White House via Twitter, which LeBron tweeted “U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going!”
In a statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, there was “a lack of good faith” and they received word to reschedule the event on Friday.
“The White House, despite sensing a lack of good faith, nonetheless attempted to work with the Eagles over the weekend to change the event format that could accommodate a smaller group of players,” Sanders’ statement said. “Unfortunately, the Eagles offered to send only a tiny handful of representatives, while making clear that the great majority of players would not attend the event, despite planning to be in D.C. today. In other words, the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans.”
In response, the NFL Players Association expressed their disappointment, detailed the decision from The White House led to the cancellation of several community service events in the DC area and “NFL players love their country, support our troops, give back to their communities and strive to make America a better place.”
As for the NBA’s two biggest stars in James and Curry, they will take the floor in the Quicken Loans Arena and continue their basketball battle but don’t be surprised if President Trump issues them some not-so-well tweets prior to tip-off.
