The Golden State Warriors are in Washington D.C. today ahead of tomorrow night's matchup against the Washington Wizards, and they've planned a trip to a nearby museum with some students.
Instead of visiting the White House in celebration of their 2017 NBA championship, the team has decided to take a tour of the African American Museum of History along with students from Kevin Durant's hometown of Seat Pleasant, Maryland.
Warriors All-Star guard Klay Thompson told the Washington Post's Tim Bontemps,
“The White House is a great honor,” Thompson said, “but there are some other circumstances that we felt uncomfortable going. We’re not going to politicize anything. We’re going to hang out with some kids, and take them to the African American Museum, and hopefully teach them some things we learned along the way, and life lessons, and hopefully give them some great memories.”
According to ESPN, the tour will only consist of players, coaches and students. The event will be closed to the media. Golden State had several options for their visit to D.C., including a trip to Durant's hometown which is nearby the nation's capital and an invitation from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to visit the U.S. Capitol, according to ESPN.
"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," Kerr told ESPN. "I want the players to have a good day and to do something positive and to enjoy what they're doing."
"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," forward Draymond Green told ESPN. "It's about something we did great. Why make it about [politics]?"
The Warriors, 47-14, will take on the Wizards, 35-25, tomorrow night at 8pm ET. The game will air on ESPN.