If the NBA champion Golden State Warriors eventually receive — and accept — an invitation to the White House, don’t expect Kevin Durant to be there.
The Warriors star forward, like so many other professional athletes, is discouraged after last weekend’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and president Donald Trump’s subsequent response to the violence. And if Durant at one time was considering joining his teammates in Washington, the events in Virginia might’ve finally dissuaded the 2017 NBA Finals MVP from doing so.
“Nah, I won’t do that,” Durant told ESPN’s Chris Haynes on Thursday. “I don’t respect who’s in office right now.”
Durant, a 28-year-old Maryland native, doesn’t seem worried about how his teammates would react to his potential absence.
“I don’t agree with what (Trump) agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not (going to the White House),” Durant said. “That’s just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they’ll all agree with me.”
Durant, who told Haynes that his dream as a kid was to take the Larry O’Brien Trophy to the steps of the White House, also offered his take on the “Unite the Right” rally and the role, if any, that Trump played in it.
“What’s going on in Charlottesville, that was unfathomable,” Durant said. ” … (Trump’s) definitely driving (the escalation of racial tension). I feel ever since he’s got into office, or since he ran for the presidency, our country has been so divided, and it’s not a coincidence.
“When (Barack) Obama was in office, things were looking up. We had so much hope in our communities where I come from because we had a black President, and that was a first.”
If the Warriors do visit Trump’s White House, Durant won’t be the only player staying home. Teammate Andre Iguodala already has said “Hell nah,” and Stephen Curry hinted at possibly sitting out, too.
Thumbnail photo via Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports Images
