Donald Trump uninvites Stephen Curry to the White House even though NBA superstar said he did not want to visit
Golden State Warriors attended meet-and-greet with Barack Obama in 2016 but point guard says he feels different about new president
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has rescinded Stephen Curry's invitation to the White House even though the NBA superstar already said he did not want to visit.
At a press conference on Friday, the Golden State Warriors point guard said he would be against his team attending a meet-and-greet with the President.
That is thought to be what prompted Trump's outburst.
"Going to the White House is considered a great honour for a championship team," the president said on Saturday.
"Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!"
Title-winning teams from America's major sports have visited the White House since 1865 but the tradition has become more controversial since Trump took power earlier this year.
Curry, whose Warriors won their second NBA championship in three years in June, attended a meet-and-greet when Barack Obama was president but said he feels differently this time around.
The 29-year-old said on Friday his personal desire was not to visit but admitted his position was made difficult because he does not represent the whole team.
"I don't want to go," Curry said.
"That's the nucleus of my belief.
"But it's not just me going to the White House, because if it was that would be a pretty simple conversation.
"But it's the organisation, it's the team. It's hard to say because I don't know exactly what we're going to do.
"Whether we do go or we don't go, my belief stays the same."
Those comments reflected sentiment Curry expressed in June when he said his team would need to "have a conversation" about a visit.
The Curry tweet was not Trump's only sports-related outburst of the weekend.
On Friday night the President said NFL owners should fire any players who protest during the national anthem - and called on fans to walk out if they see anyone doing so.
Several of the league's top stars have refused to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner" to protest the treatment of black people by police in the United States. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was the first to take a public stance on the issue while playing for the San Francisco 49ers, hasn't been signed by an NFL team for this season.
While he didn't mention Kaepernick specifically by name Trump indicated he believes any players protesting are disrespecting the flag and deserve to lose their jobs.
"That's a total disrespect of our heritage. That's a total disrespect of everything that we stand for," he said. "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you'd say, 'Get that son of a b**** off the field right now. Out! He's fired."
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