Heading into the weekend FS1 host Jason Whitlock appeared before Stuart Varney and gave the kind of insight into sports and social matters that he's come to be appreciated for by the Fox News audience. Whitlock was sure to leave his signature fedora off as he sat chuckling and fielding words of encouragement, after imparting his own niceties with a reminder to Varney that he distinguishes himself as someone from Middle America. Then they went about the business of addressing Steph Curry's choice to exercise his free speech in sitting out a Warriors championship ceremony at the White House; a decision which Whitlock framed as one typical of what he calls a culture of resistance that is "un-American" and "cowardly." Whitlock:
“This is a San Francisco, Silicon Valley-based basketball team. Steph Curry is part of that culture that instead of engaging with people we disagree with, we want to eliminate people we disagree with. American has never been about that. That’s not a healthy strategy. If Steph Curry and members of the Golden State Warriors have strong disagreements with President Trump, they should go engage him in debate and discussion, and make their disagreements known to him, and give him an opportunity to react. This whole thing of resist, and we’re not going to deal with this person, and we’re going to ignore this person, it’s unhealthy, it’s un-American, it’s really cowardly. I like Steph Curry a lot, but he is a young person being led astray by social media and people in this country that just want to overthrow everything.”
News that the Warriors might be considering a White House boycott surfaced within 24-hours of them raising the Larry O'Brien trophy at Oracle Arena. While reports of a possible protest were immediately countered by the NHL champion Pittsburgh Penguins' general manager declaring that their team is steadfast in their eagerness to meet President Trump. There were many who applauded or simply refrained from openly criticizing the possibility of Coach Steve Kerr keeping the team home. It is important to note that Golden State still hasn't officially announced whether or not they will head to Washington. Whatever compromise they may come up with would come two months after a stripped down New England Patriots team showed up to hand the President an honorary Super Bowl jersey.
Prior to the season, the NBA faced impending questions into whether anybody might carry on Colin Kaepernick's protest of police violence during pregame National Anthem ceremonies. Kerr was one of the more outspoken advocates for Kaepernick being able to use his platform to express himself, as was Draymond Green, but none chose to take up a protest during the coveted ritual. But while Steph wouldn't venture into territory that might be interpreted as unpatriotic, he has shown himself to be critical of the man occupying the nation's highest office, as was the case when he publicly denounced his Under Armour sponsor for using his high corporate platform while a CNBC Fast Money guest to air open support for Trump's Presidency.
Source: totalprosports.com
