The Golden State Warriors continue to make an impact on and off the basketball court.
Warriors Take Kids To African-American Museum Instead of Visiting White House
The Golden State Warriors have spoken.
After making it clear that the 2016-17 NBA champions, especially point guard Stephen Curry, did not want to attend the White House to commemorate their season, President Donald Trump rescinded the team’s invitation.
Instead of visiting the White House, the team visited Finals MVP Kevin Durant’s old neighborhood in an attempt to have a positive impact on the next generation of African-American students.
Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson told ESPN, “We’re doing great things anyways. The White House is a great honor, but there’s extenuating circumstances that we felt that we’re not comfortable doing. We’re not going to politicize anything, we’re just going to hang out with some kids, take them to an African-American museum, and hopefully teach them things we learned along the way and life lessons, and we’ll still be getting some great memories.”
On Tuesday, the Warriors took 40 students from Durant’s hometown of Seat Pleasant, Md. to the National Museum of African American History and Culture instead of visiting the White House.
Durant’s hometown is eight miles from the White House.
The Warriors also took 10 additional children from the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors to the museum.
The aforementioned program assists children who have lost loved ones who have served in the military.
According to NBA.com, the tour of the museum lasted three hours.
“The kids—their smiles lit up the room,” coach Steve Kerr said. “Our guys understand how much of an impact they can make on these kids. It’s a reminder of how powerful sports can be and how transformative sports can be for change.”
Despite not wanting to go to the White House because many Warriors view Trump as a divisive president, many players and Kerr refused to make any overtly political statements when probed by reporters.
However, Curry spoke out on the issue as he has done consistently in the past.
“Rhetoric and hate and just general disdain from the top, trying to be divisive and whatnot, has had the opposite reaction from what it intended,” Curry said. “We’ve done our part, I think, to try to further that message.”
Despite refusing to visit the Trump White House, the Warriors did visit the White House under former President Barack Obama in 2015 to commemorate their fourth NBA championship in team history.
In addition to winning the title in 2015 and 2017, the Golden State Warriors also won the title in 1975.
The Philadelphia Warriors won the NBA title in 1956 and also won the first world title in history in 1947.
