Kevin Durant visited his hometown of Seat Pleasant, Md., for a day in his honor. (@kevindurant/Instagram)
If the NBA champion Golden State Warriors get invited to the White House with Donald Trump, you can count forward Kevin Durant out.
“Nah, I won’t do that,” Durant told ESPN Thursday, Aug. 18, during Kevin Durant Day in Seat Pleasant, Md. “I don’t respect who’s in office right now. I don’t agree with what he agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not doing that. That’s just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they’ll all agree with me.”
It’s customary for championship teams to be invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., however, the Warriors have not been given a request to visit as yet.
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On Trump’s hand in the heightened racial tensions of the last year, Durant said the Commander-in-Chief is “definitely driving it.” Most recently, those strains led to the deadly incident in Charlottesville, Va., where counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally were injured and one was killed as a result of the violence. Two law enforcement officials also died when their helicopter crashed as they were surveying the rally from above.
The 2017 NBA Finals MVP admitted he “wanted to say something immediately” as the voice of “people who have come from my neighborhood and deal with oppression.”
“I’m representing a lot of people,” he added. “As far as what’s going on in our country, for one, as an athlete, you have to commend Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, [Chris Paul] [and] Dwyane Wade for starting that conversation [about racial injustice] last year. Russell Westbrook also said something in his speech. A lot [of] guys with platforms have drove the conversation in a good direction. And what’s going on in Charlottesville, that was unfathomable.”
While NBA commissioner Adam Silver has voiced opposition to athletes standing up for their beliefs the way Durant and others have, the eight-time NBA All-Star feels more individuals with clout need to sound off.
“For us to move forward, we need more athletes and people of power and influence to come out and speak,” he said. “It’s great to see a lot of athletes coming together and trying to direct a positive path for a lot of kids and a lot of people in this country who look up to us.”
