Steve Kerr would like Warriors to consider potential White House visit as goodwill gesture

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has been highly critical of President Trump, calling him a “blowhard” and saying he is “ill-suited” for the presidency.

In spite of his personal feelings, Kerr said he would like for his NBA title team to visit the White House — as most championship teams do — out of a gesture of goodwill. But, at the end of the day, Kerr said it’s up to his players.

“The biggest thing for me is it’s about the players. This is a visit that’s about the team. We have not met about it, because we haven’t been invited,” Kerr said on the TK Show podcast. “But I would want to make sure the players gave this really a lot of thought. And everybody knows I’ve been a very outspoken critic of Trump, and, as a result, maybe we won’t even get the invitation. But I do think it’s very important to consider a potential invitation because I think it could have really positive ramifications if we did go.

“And it’s a different way to look at it. I, like many of our players, am very offended by some of Trump’s words and actions. On the other hand, I do think there’s something to respecting the office, respecting our institutions, our government. And I think it could make a statement in a time where there’s so much divide and everybody seems to be angry with each other. It might be a good statement for us to go and to show that, hey, let’s put this aside, put all this partisan stuff aside and personal stuff aside, respect the institution.”

Kerr has not been alone as a critic of Trump, with Warriors superstar Stephen Curry also expressing his disdain with the president and Andre Iguodala telling USA TODAY Sports he was against a White House visit and that “there might be somebody different” in office by the time the Warriors might carry on the tradition. Even if an invitation is extended, it’s uncertain when it would be. After winning the title in June 2015, the Warriors visited President Obama’s White House the following February. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2016 visit, meanwhile, took place in November.

While the Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots visited the White House in April and the Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins have publicly said they’ll go, Kerr noted that his team might take a different route than simply accepting or boycotting a White House invitation.

“Maybe even if one of your players wants to voice your concerns over what’s happening, what better opportunity to do so?” Kerr said. “Now, that may be incredibly idealistic. But I would want to at least bring that up with our players as an option rather than just coming out and saying, ‘No way. I’m not going.’ ”

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