Basketballers pass on Trump trip

Basketball stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry say whoever wins the NBA title, neither will celebrate with Donald Trump.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James says neither team will go to meet the president. Picture: AP

Basketball superstars LeBron James and Stephen Curry maintain, whichever team wins the NBA title, they will not be heading to the White House to celebrate with Donald Trump.

James, a Cleveland Cavaliers forward, and Curry, a Golden State Warriors guard, who have been battling in the NBA finals, voiced their opinions after the US President escalated his feud with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles after most of the Super Bowl-winning footballers passed up the customary White House invitation.

“I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants the invite anyway,” said James, whose Cavaliers trail the best-of-seven finals 2-0. “So it won’t be Golden State or Cleveland going.”

It has been a long-standing tradition for championship teams to visit the White House, but the visits have been embroiled in controversy since Mr Trump took office.

Last September, Mr Trump revoked an invitation to the Warriors, who beat Cleveland last June for their second title in three seasons, after Curry had said he would vote against a planned visit.

Curry said he and his teammates would be likely to repeat the stance they took last year should they successfully defend their title.

“I hope to be in that situation and win two more games where we win a championship and ­obviously know what comes with that,” said Curry.

“But I think I agree with LeBron. Pretty sure the way we handled things last year, kind of stay consistent with that.”

Mr Trump withdrew his invitation for the Eagles celebration after it became clear most of the team’s players planned to boycott the event. The President blasted NFL protests in which players knelt during the playing of the ­national anthem, even though none of the Eagles knelt during the anthem last season.

Reuters