LeBron James and Stephen Curry Say NBA Champions Will Not Visit White House

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors are currently battling it out in the NBA Finals, but regardless of the outcome, the franchise’s star players say that their teams will not visit the White House after the series is over.

The Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry both separately stated that should their team win the championship, they will not visit the White House.

“I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants the invite anyway,” James told reporters on Tuesday, via the Washington Post. “So it won’t be Golden State or Cleveland going.”

James’ comment came in response to President Trump’s decision to disinvite the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles to the White House, which POTUS said was because the players “disagree with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the national anthem.”

During the 2017-2018 season, no Eagles player on the regular season roster declined to stand for the anthem.

“I’m not surprised,” James said of Trump’s behavior. “It’s typical of him.”

When told about James’ comment, Curry agreed with his opponent’s sentiment.

“I agree with LeBron,” he said, via The Hollywood Reporter. “The way we handled things last year … we’ll stay consistent with that.”

In 2017, the Warriors won the NBA Championship and drew Trump’s fury after Curry and other Warriors players said that they would not make the trip to the White House. In response, Trump disinvited the team.

James addressed that controversy on Tuesday, responding to a reporter who asked if he was surprised that the situation remained the same.

“I think as long as he’s in office, then the communication and things like that are going to continue to happen,” the athlete said of Trump. “It’s a lot of things that we believe in as Americans that we don’t feel that he’s for. There are a lot of people that believe that he’s not for the people or doing things that’s right by the people.”

James added that Trump’s decision should not take away from the Eagles’ success.

“We shouldn’t let that news take away from what that unbelievable team did and accomplished, what all those players did to sacrifice throughout each and every Sunday, going out and playing the style of football that they played and winning a Super Bowl the way they won it,” he said.

“Let’s not let that accomplishment of things that you will have for the rest of your life, and people will always call you a champion for the rest of your life, let’s not let someone uninviting you to their house take away from that moment.”

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