Warriors hope to bring their 'values' to DC after White House snub
Donald Trump said NBA champions not welcome after criticism
Golden State may do charity work on visit to Washington instead
Warriors coach Steve Kerr says Colin Kaepernick has been blackballed
The Golden State Warriors coach, Steve Kerr, says his team still hope to achieve something positive when they visit Washington DC to play the Wizards next year.
The NBA champions traditionally visit the president at the White House but Donald Trump made it clear the Warriors would not be welcome this season after several players indicated they would not go. In September he tweeted: “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team, Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”
Kerr said the visit had been debated for some time by players and staff. “We had been debating for a couple months what we would do in terms of visiting the White House, if we would or not, how it would unfold,” Kerr said on the Pod Save America podcast on Monday.
“We were sorting through it all, but before we could get to anything, the President beat us to the punch. I don’t think we would have gone. And I think he knew that. Several of us had been very critical of the president in the past year, and it would have been awkward, for sure.”
Warriors star Kevin Durant is from DC and Kerr said their visit may instead involve some charitable work in the capital. “We’ve been invited by various members of Congress to visit, so maybe we can do something like that,” Kerr said. “We’ve talked about doing what we usually do in DC, which is visiting one of the many museums or historical sites.”
Kerr also have his thoughts on Colin Kaepernick, who has filed a grievance against the NFL and team owners alleging there has been collusion to keep him out of the league following his protest at social injustice in America.
“Oh, he is being blackballed. That’s a no-brainer,” Kerr said. “All you have to do is read the transactions every day, when you see the quarterbacks who are being hired. He’s way better than any of them. But the NFL has a different fan base than the NBA. The NBA is more urban, the NFL is more conservative, and I think a lot of NFL fans are truly angry at Kaepernick, and I think owners are worried what it’s going to do to business.”
Kerr has long been a critic of the president. In January he attacked the proposed ban on travellers and refugees from some Muslim-majority countries.
“I would just say that as someone whose family member was a victim of terrorism, having lost my father, if we’re trying to combat terrorism by banishing people from coming to this country, by really going against the principles of what our country is about and creating fear, it’s the wrong way of going about it,” said Kerr whose father, Malcolm, was killed by two gunmen in 1984 while he was president of the American University of Beirut. Islamic Jihad, a precursor of Hezbollah, later claimed responsibility for the murder. “If anything, we could be breeding anger and terror. So I’m completely against what’s happening.”
