Kevin Durant will not be visiting the White House with his Golden State Warriors teammates to celebrate their NBA Championship, and he suspects that most, if not all, of his teammates won't go either. Durant said that he "does not respect" President Donald Trump, and therefore will not go.
Speaking to ESPN, Durant said that the team did not make a decision, and that it was "just him personally" deciding not to go. However, Durant said that he does not expect his teammates to want to go to the White House either.
"Nah, I won't do that," said Durant, the 2017 NBA Finals MVP. "I don't respect who's in office right now."
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"I don't agree with what he agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not doing that," said Durant, who said it wasn't an organizational decision. "That's just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they'll all agree with me."
While the Warriors have not yet been officially invited to visit the White House, they will be in town to play the Washington Wizards on February 28. Generally, this is when a celebratory visit would occur.
Shortly after the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers, rumors began swirling that they had decided as a team that they would not be visiting the White House. At the time, the team denied that any decision had been made, but said that players would be free to skip the event if they wanted to. (This is nothing unusual from past administrations--players often do not go to the White House for a multitude of reasons, both political and personal.)
If the Warriors are actually invited and subsequently decline the visit, this is likely the first time this has happened since regular celebratory White House visits re-started in the 1980s.
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