On Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers visited the White House. It was great, as this event usually is when the NBA champs go to Washington and hang out with President Barack Obama.
But of course, Obama only has a few more months left as POTUS, and this was the final time that he’ll host the team that won the Larry O’Brien Trophy. For at least the next four years, this honor is going to go to President-elect Donald Trump, which ESPN’s Jalen Rose sees as a potential issue.
According to SLAM Magazine, Rose thinks it’ll get to the point where athletes go out of their way to avoid going to the White House.
“There will be players that decline the opportunity to visit the White House under his presidency,” Rose said. Rose made it a point to include that he doesn’t think this will be limited to the NBA, as he also mentioned that the NFL will feature a number of athletes who avoid the ceremonial trip to meet Trump.
Additionally, a few Cavs players decided to voice their displeasure in a Trump presidency. Most notably, J.R. Smith told the Akron Beacon Journal that he isn’t exactly a fan in the soon-to-be leader of the free world.
“This situation is ridiculous that somebody like Trump can get this far saying the things he’s saying and doing the things he’s done over the course of his history with no political background,” Smith said Tuesday before Trump’s victory. “That’s ridiculous. In this situation, I think everybody has to step up and say something.”
Smith, as you can probably tell from these comments, supported Hillary Clinton during the race for the White House. He even appeared on stage at a rally with LeBron James to introduce the Democratic Party’s nominee. Richard Jefferson, meanwhile, seemed to agree with Rose’s statement, saying on Wednesday night that the Cavs are the last team to visit the White House.
Richard Jefferson on Snapchat. pic.twitter.com/dZgvSz6ysD
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) November 10, 2016
This sentiment is shared by an anonymous Cavs player (who very well could be Jefferson, although it’s weird that he’d say this under the cloak of anonymity when he posted it to his Snapchat account).
It’s wholly possible that this turns out to be nothing, especially if Trump’s White House turns out to be more tolerant than what many expect. We’ll revisit this in a few months when the first NBA champs during Trump’s presidency are trying to schedule a trip to D.C.
(Via SLAM Magazine)
