When they won the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2017, the Golden State Warriors won the rights to visit Washington, D.C., in triumphant celebration. So to commemorate their most recent NBA championship, the Dubs are in fact spending Tuesday in the nation's capital — but in lieu of the traditional visit to the White House, they're going museum-hopping.
The Warriors have chosen to spend the day at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History, bringing along with them students from Seat Pleasant, Maryland — the hometown of Warriors forward Kevin Durant — per ESPN's Chris Haynes. Last September, Warriors point guard Stephen Curry had publicly waffled on the prospect of visiting with President Trump, prompting Trump to tweet that the invitation had been "withdrawn."
The Warriors are the first professional championship team to skip their White House visit entirely, though individual players have opted to bypass Pennsylvania Avenue before. Some members of the New England Patriots sat out the visit after their 2017 Super Bowl win, with a few explicitly mentioning Trump as the reason, while several players for the 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have already announced their plans to sit out. The South Carolina women's basketball team, who won the 2017 NCAA championship, declined Trump's invitation outright; the men's champions, from the University of North Carolina, will also skip the traditional White House tour, citing scheduling conflicts.
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Klay Thompson, the Warriors' sharpshooting two-way guard, revealed the team's museum plans Monday night. "The White House is a great honor," he said, "but there are some other circumstances that we felt uncomfortable going."
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