Shaun Livingston and his Golden State Warriors visited the White House when the team won the NBA title back in 2015. For most of the players on the team, it was the first time that they have ever met a sitting president. Of course, that was former President Barack Obama who greeted them at the most-famous house the world has to offer.
Now, with a new president residing at Pennsylvania Avenue, there’s been a lot of talk about athletes refusing to go to the White House. That has only been amplified a bit more recently with multiple members of the now Super Bowl champion New England Patriots deciding against visiting with President Trump (more on that here).
Now comes this comment from Warriors guard Shaun Livingston indicating that he would skip a trip to the White House should his team win the NBA championship for the second time in three seasons this upcoming June.
“I really feel that my views would keep me from going and visiting,” Livingston said on 95.7 The Game on Friday. “Just with everything that’s going on right now, I just don’t agree with a lot of stuff that’s happening. I definitely wouldn’t go.”
It’s a somewhat interestingly dynamic to look at around the NBA world. Livingston isn’t the only member of the Warriors that has spoken out against Trump. In fact, head coach Steve Kerr has had a lot of choice words about the direction of the country under the new president (more on that here).
This also comes on the heels of two-time reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry breaking from the company line at Under Armour and speaking out against Trump.
With the divisive nature of politics in America and the continual push for athletes to speak out against perceived issues, this might start a trend.
That’s only magnified in a basketball world where many of the top stars have taken to upon themselves to act the part of activists. For both the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, the two teams that met in last year’s NBA Finals, this is taken to a whole new level.