The Toronto Raptors became the first NBA team in league history to win a title and play outside of the United States when they beat the Golden State Warriors last week. The triumph for Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors came with a raft of questions about the future of the franchise, the league as a whole, and just how the NBA is changing.
But one thing that didn’t change, despite the Warriors falling short of a threepeat, is the president they set with championship teams visiting Donald Trump’s White House. The Warriors famously had their invite to the White House pulled when Steph Curry went on record as saying the team wouldn’t attend, the first NBA squad to face the question that came with Trump in office. While other leagues have seen teams visit with a number of notable players missing, and college champions have seen their meetings catered by fast food companies, the NBA hasn’t had a team visit the White House since Obama was in office.
That appears to be a trend that will continue, as Raptors standout Danny Green made it clear the team would pass on an invite, should it come Toronto’s way. Green appeared on Inside The Green Room and was asked about a potential visit to Trump’s White House and politely declined.
Raptors to the White House?
"To put it politely, I think it's a hard no." – @DGreen_14 pic.twitter.com/do6vyQa7O7
— Yahoo Sports Canada (@YahooCASports) June 22, 2019
“I just don’t think that we accept,” Green said after a laugh, answering the hypothetical question of a Trump invite to come celebrate the Raptors’ championship.
A number of NBA stars have made a public enemy of Trump in the time that he’s been in office, drawing his wrath through tweets and surrogates on conservative television. But Green is trying to be diplomatic here: he says it’s just hard to respect Trump because of how he acts.
“And I try to respect everybody and every field that they do regardless of how crazy things are,” Green said. “He makes it hard. He makes it very, very tough to respect how he goes about and does things.”
Green finished by reiterating that, if an invite is coming, the Raptors aren’t going. Though he’s certain that invite isn’t coming, anyway.
“To put it politely: it’s a hard no,” Green said. “I’m sure he will take his invite back now that he knows, but that’s fine.”
