Warriors, Cavaliers say they’re not going to White House

CLEVELAND (AP) — Stephen Curry and LeBron James spoke their minds last year. They have not changed their minds this year.

No matter whose team wins the NBA championship, neither superstar will be at the White House anytime soon.

On the day when the Philadelphia Eagles were supposed to be there to commemorate winning the Super Bowl — a visit that was canceled by President Donald Trump and had the White House accusing players who weren’t planning on attending of abandoning their fans — Curry and James were among those speaking out at the NBA Finals in support of the Eagles.

“I’m not surprised. It’s typical of him,” James, the Cleveland star, said Tuesday of Trump’s decision to cancel. “I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants the invite anyway. So it won’t be Golden State or Cleveland going.”

On the eve of Game 3 of the Warriors-Cavaliers series, politics dominated the conversation.

Curry raised Trump’s ire last year when he said he wouldn’t go to the White House, prompting the President to disinvite him and the champion Golden State Warriors.

Curry said Tuesday that he spoke with a current Eagles player about the team’s decision-making process and how it went deeper than disagreeing with Trump policies and the ongoing issue of some NFL players choosing not to stand for the pregame playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“It’s an important conversation, but you can’t control what other people try to do, or try to control the narrative or things like that,” Curry said.

Curry said the team has been on the same page after his comments last year and Trump’s subsequent revoking of the Warriors’ invitation. “And every team that’s won a championship since then has gone through that.”

There has been clear tension between many star athletes and the current administration throughout the Trump presidency. Trump has often blasted the NFL players who have kneeled for the national anthem, a protest that started in 2016 when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick did so to raise awareness of racism — more specifically, the killing of black men by police.