In lieu of a visit to the White House, the NBA champion Golden State Warriors will visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, shooting guard Klay Thompson told reporters Monday night.
In September, Trump rescinded the team’s invitation to visit the White House after star player Stephen Curry said he didn’t want to go. “We don’t stand for basically what our President has — the things that he’s said and the things that he hasn’t said in the right times,” Curry said, a day before Trump tweeted in part: “invitation is withdrawn!”
The team said in a statement at the time: “In lieu of a visit to the White House, we have decided that we’ll constructively use our trip to the nation’s capital in February to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion — the values that we embrace as an organization.”
“We’re doing a great thing anyway,’’ Thompson said, according to video from the Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
“The White House is a great honor, but there are some other circumstances that we felt not comfortable going,” he added. “We’re not going to politicize anything. We’re just going to go hang out with some kids, take them to the African-American Museum and hopefully teach them things we learned along the way, life lessons, and hopefully give them some great memories.”
Klay Thompson on the D.C. trip: “White House is a great honor, but there’s some other circumstances that make us uncomfortable going.”
They will tour the African-American museum with a group of kids pic.twitter.com/Hwh0MXCuKQ— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 27, 2018
ESPN first reported Wednesday that the team had decided to spend the Tuesday on “a private tour of an undisclosed locale.” Coach Steve Kerr told ESPN: “It’s their championship. They got disinvited to the White House, so it’s up to them what they wanted to do. So they made their plans. I want the players to have a good day and to do something positive and to enjoy what they’re doing.”
The Warriors will face off against the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capitol on Wednesday.
“It’s kind of beating a dead horse at this point,” Curry said Monday night, according to SF Gate, asked about the team’s disinvitation from the White House. “We’re excited about the opportunity we’re going to do tomorrow as a team. Other than that, it’s a business trip.”
