LeBron James had strong words in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to un-invite the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles to the White House on Tuesday.
“It’s typical of him. I’m not surprised,” the Cavaliers forward said during a press conference on Tuesday. “I know no matter who wins this series, no one wants to get invited anyways, so it won’t be Golden State or Cleveland going.”
LeBron James shares his thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles being uninvited to the White House.#NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/yeQOwXeMbG
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 5, 2018
In a statement released on Monday, Trump said that he’s rescinding his invitation because Eagles players “disagree with their president” who “insists that they proudly stand for their national anthem.”
“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” the statement read. “They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”
The cancellation came after several players — including Chris Long and Malcolm Jenkins — said that they would not visit the White House following their Super Bowl LII victory over the New England Patriots last February.
James, who has never been shy about his feeling towards Trump, went in further, saying that as long as he resides in the White House, dust-ups between the president and professional sports teams will continue to happen. Last year, the Warriors collectively decided not to visit the White House, which caused Trump to later “un-invite” them as well.
“It’s a lot of things that we believe in as Americans that we don’t feel that he’s for,” James continued. “There’s a lot of people that believe that he’s not for the people or doing right by the people.”
He concluded by saying that the people of Philadelphia shouldn’t let this take away from the team’s first ever Super Bowl title. “Let’s not let someone uninviting you to their house take away from that moment,” he said, adding winning a title is “way bigger than getting invited to the White House, especially with him in there.”
Moments after James left the podium, Warriors’ star Steph Curry shared the same sentiment as his rival.
Steph Curry on Trump-Eagles: "Not surprising." On LeBron's statement that neither team would accept a White House invitation. "I agree with Bron."
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) June 5, 2018