WASHINGTON — Members of Congress have extended a joint welcome to the Golden State Warriors to celebrate their NBA championship, preempting President Trump's White House.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) invited the Warriors to Capitol Hill, according to a letter obtained by SB Nation. The two Bay Area lawmakers wrote that the Warriors make the “Bay Area and indeed the country deeply proud.”
“In celebration of your victory, we would be delighted to welcome you publicly as a team or personally as families to the United States Capitol,” Pelosi and Lee wrote to Steve Kerr and the team. “Please consider this as a blanket invitation whenever your individual schedules allow.”
The Warriors did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter. Sarah Sanders, the White House’s Deputy Press Secretary, said “nothing to announce at this time” about the president’s plans with the Warriors. Sanders did not clarify if President Trump has sent a request to the team or if a request was made at all.
A congressional response to the president involving the Warriors had been brewing for days following the Warriors win. Pelosi tweeted a week ago that she’d be “honored” to welcome the Warriors to the Capitol. At Pelosi’s weekly press conference with reporters, she furthered her comments when asked.
The @Warriors' leadership is inspiring. I'd be honored to welcome the team to the U.S. Capitol. #DubNation
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) June 13, 2017
“I mean, I'd like them to bring their families when they want to come. You know what I mean? In other words, this isn't about a hoopty doo. This is about when you're here, bring your families. We'd love to welcome them, just as we welcome all of America's families,” Pelosi said about extending invitations to the team.
“People have to know that there's something wonderful here for them to see, the greatness of America,” Pelosi continued. “And if there's anything that gives me optimism, it's the greatness of our country, and that God is always with us and we can get through anything.”
Pelosi’s comments come on the heel of many remarks across the regular season about Trump by NBA personnel, the Warriors included. Kerr has said a litany: that Trump is “ill-suited” for the presidency, that he’s a “blowhard,” and after the election he said that he wouldn’t visit the White House if the Warriors won the championship.
Multiple Warriors players were asked if they would attend a White House celebration with President Trump. Matt Barnes ran away from a reporter during the team’s championship parade. Andre Iguodala said “hell nah” when asked if he would go to the White House, but said, ultimately, he would follow what the team’s leader, Stephen Curry.
After Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank suggested that Trump was a “real asset” to the country, Curry, UA’s signature athlete, responded by calling Trump an “ass.” Curry then stood by his remarks about going to the White House.
"Somebody asked me about it a couple of months ago, like a hypothetical, if the championship were to happen would I do it, and I think I answered 'I wouldn't go.' I still feel like that today," Curry told reporters. "But, obviously as a team, we're going to have a conversation."
From the Warriors’ win to the moment the letter was formally sent, there have been small jabs (tweets, statements, etc.) from the offices in regards to Trump.
“The invitation is a way to not only celebrate them but to honor their commitment to those values,” one Democratic staffer said. “This is a nod to the Warriors leadership on and off the court: many of the players and Coach Kerr's vocal opposition to the bigotry and anti-American values of Trump.”
According to a congressional aide with knowledge of the lawmakers’ thinking, the invitation was, in a way, an anti-Trump invitation.
“Sports teams in general since the election have experienced division on whether to accept White House invitations because of how their fans might feel and how that might be a tacit endorsement of the Trump agenda,” the aide said.