Trump Attacks Warriors’ Curry. LeBron James’s Retort: ‘U Bum.’
While many fans on social media were supportive of the president, the reaction from many athletes was immediate
and impassioned, particularly among African-American football and basketball players who have criticized Mr. Trump on race.
At the Alabama rally, Mr. Trump said the protests at football games would stop if fans left when players did not stand for the anthem.
Many athletes have been moved to comment on race and social justice more frequently in the past year after a series of police shootings of unarmed African-Americans
and the support Mr. Trump has received from white supremacists.
The denial of a visit to the White House by the Warriors was not the first time the president tried to pre-empt a snub by dealing one of his own; last month, he abruptly announced
that he was disbanding two of his business advisory councils after some members said they would resign from them to protest his equivocating response to racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va., at a march organized by neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
President Trump took aim at two of the world’s most powerful sports leagues
and some of their most popular athletes, directly inserting himself into an already fiery debate over race, social justice and athlete activism and stoking a running battle on social media over his comments.
The Warriors, who play in a league that sometimes promotes social issues
and whose owners and players have been known to denounce the president, said in a statement they would use a visit to Washington in February to highlight issues of diversity and inclusiveness.
“It’s unfortunate that the president decided to use his immense platform to make divisive
and offensive statements about our players and the N. F.L.,’’ said Mark Murphy, the president and chief executive of the Green Bay Packers.