The Golden State Warriors had a wild ride after winning the 2017 NBA Finals. After stating that they were undecided on visiting the White House, which is customary for a team to do after winning a title, President Donald Trump then rescinded the Warriors' invite, making the decision easy for the champions.
The team is still going to Washington D.C., but it now has other plans. Part of those plans involve spending time with local kids at an unnamed venue in an event that will be closed off from the media. The reason? Players wanted the visit to be personal.
"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," coach Steve Kerr said. "I want the players to have a good day and to do something positive and to enjoy what they're doing."
Only players, coaches and students will be on the private tour of an unnamed locale on Feb. 27.
"At the end of the day, it's about us celebrating a championship, so there's no point in getting into the political stuff and all that," Draymond Green said. "It's about something we did great. Why make it about [politics]?"
For this reason, the team opted not to attend a celebration with House Minority Nancy Pelosi (who represents San Francisco's district) and Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser. The team specifically wanted to avoid its actions being conflated with politicizing the event, hence the route that it took.
