Steph Curry, NBA, 200 NFL Players Protest in Flap with President Trump

Amber C. Strong
09-24-2017

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WASHINGTON - Dozens of NFL players and entire NFL teams jumped in on the political protests Sunday after President Trump's recent comments blasting players who protest during the national anthem.

The Pittsburgh Steelers team stayed in the locker room during the national anthem. And many of the Jacksonville Jaguars took a knee to protest against racial inequality.

About 200 players, team owners and others sat or knelt, following the form of protest started last season by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

That's just one chapter in the heated exchanges between President Trump and pro athletes this weekend.

Trump also disinvited the Golden State Warriors, particularly, point guard Stephen Curry from visiting the White House.

The Warriors were expected to meet with the president sometime next February to celebrate their victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 NBA championships, as is the tradition with most championship teams.

The split between the team and the White House has been growing for awhile but intensified Friday evening when reporters asked Curry if he planned to attend.

“By acting and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country and what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye to. It’s not just the act of not going there. There are things you have to do on the back end to actually push that message into motion,” he continued.

Curry went on to state the team would be voting in the morning but his vote would be “no.”

But President Trump beat him to the punch with this tweet Saturday morning:

Curry said the president’s response only reaffirmed his decision.

“My stance is the same as it was yesterday and even cemented even further about how things in our country have gone especially with him representing us,” Curry stated.

"I don't know why he feels the need to target certain individuals rather than others," he continued. "I have an idea of why, but, it's just kind of beneath, I think, a leader of a country to go that route. It's not what leaders do."

Curry’s wife, Ayesha, responded to the president with a tweet encouraging followers to donate to earthquake relief efforts.

 

The Golden State Warriors also released a statement saying:

While we intended to meet as a team at the first opportunity we had this morning to collaboratively discuss a potential visit to the White House, we accept that President Trump has made it clear that we are not invited. We believe there is nothing more American than our citizens having the right to express themselves freely on matters important to them. We're disappointed that we did not have an opportunity during this process to share our views or have open dialogue on issues impacting our communities that we felt would be important to raise.

The team went on to state they will still visit DC but use the time to dedicate themselves to community service instead. 

Other members of the NBA were not as amicable in their responses to the president.

The tweet from James has garnered more than 1 million likes on Twitter.

Curry, a Christian who has never shied away from what he believes, regularly holds team Bible studies and has the Bible verse Philippians 4:13 engrained on his sneakers. 

Meanwhile, many are praising the president’s decision to rescind the invitation.

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About The Author

Amber C.
Strong

Amber Strong joined the CBN News team in Washington, D.C., in 2014 as a producer and field producer. Currently, she works as a correspondent, producer, and backup anchor for "The Brody File." Her beat includes national politics and The White House. And while she loves her current backyard of Washington, D.C., she’s a Hoosier girl at heart. Amber lives and breathes all things entertainment and politics and has had the privilege of interviewing some of the biggest names in both industries, including late night host Jimmy Fallon and presidential contender Rick Santorum. However, her true love is
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