Golden State Warriors visit former President Obama in Washington, D.C. after refusing to meet President Trump
The Golden State Warriors paid a visit to former President Barack Obama during their trip to Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
A photo with Mr. Obama was posted on Instagram by a team official then deleted, according reporter Logan Murdock. Murdock, who covers the Warriors for the Bay Area newspaper Mercury News, captured the photo from @tonybee5's Instagram account. It shows the entire team roster around Mr. Obama at an undisclosed location.
President Obama has not shared anything about the Warriors' visit on his social media pages.
Looks like the Warriors paid a visit to President Barack Obama during their visit to Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/D5PSwjc3Gl
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) January 25, 2019
The Warriors were in D.C. to play the Wizards. The reigning champs beat the home team and continued their nine-game winning streak, CBS Sports reports.
Before they even made it to last year's championship, both the Warriors' Steph Curry and the Cavaliers' LeBron James said their teams would refuse a visit to the Trump White House. James' comments came after President Trump rescinded an invitation for the Eagles to visit White House after winning the Super Bowl.
"It's typical of him, I'm not surprised," James said. "I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants the invite anyway. It won't be Golden State or Cleveland going." Curry later echoed James' remarks.
When both teams made it to the championship, Mr. Trump said he was not going to invite either team to the White House, regardless of who won.
The Warriors declined to divulge details about their visit to Mr. Obama on Thursday, with head coach Steve Kerr telling the Mercury News: "That's private. Appreciate the question. Doesn't mean I have to answer it."
The visit appears to be a departure from the norm — the team publicly declined to visit the sitting president, but made an effort to secretly visit a former president while they were in town.
This subtle form of statement-making is not new for the Warriors, who did go to Washington, D.C. after winning the championship last year, but visited the National Museum of African-American History and Culture instead of the White House, according to CBS San Francisco.