Recently, Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors publicly announced that he would not be visiting the White House due to his disapproving views of President Trump. In retaliation, President Trump rescinded Stephen Curry's invite, saying it is an honor to be invited to the White House. LeBron James commented on the tweet, calling Trump a bum and saying he can't rescind an invite when someone doesn't want to go. This sparked multiple professional athletes from the NFL and NBA to react to Trump's tweet at Stephen Curry, condemning the President's poor actions.
Possible reasons for Steph Curry's refusal to go to the White House
There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a controversial figure among athletes. In fact, the Warriors have previously shown disapproval of Trump's actions. However, Trump's comments on Colin Kaepernick are a sure reason to Curry's refusal to visit the White House. At a rally in Alabama, Trump said that people who disrespected the flag by actions such as kneeling were "sons of bitches" who deserved to be fired by the league owners. People were outraged that Trump condemned someone peacefully protesting for minority rights while he was very hesitant to condemn the white supremacy in the Charlottesville riots. Also, Colin Kaepernick has done nothing except use his first amendment right which is zero grounds to get someone fired.
It appears that these reasons were more than enough for professional athletes to make a stand. It was exceptionally brave of NFL players to do so since the Kaepernick incident set a frightening precedent.
Lack of job security
In the NBA, players are guaranteed money through team contracts. The NFL is a different story. Players are released without a second thought and are out of a job.
They no longer have the money from the NFL to fund their lifestyle and go broke. This is why Trump's comment was very unsettling to NFL players. The thought of losing a job over your constitutional right is not only illegal but scary when your president endorses it. Colin Kaepernick was the first example of this action. When he began kneeling to advocate against police brutality, NFL teams blackballed him because they didn't want the publicity he brought.
NFL teams could have supported Kaepernick about this issue but, they were worried about how he protested instead of what he was protesting against. NFL players like Dez Bryant spoke about how he was scared to lose his job if he advocated like Colin Kaepernick. When questioned about his lack of support, Dez Bryant responded by saying "I have a family to feed."
Why it is important for athletes to speak out
Professional athletes have such a large fan base that it would be a waste not to use their platform to speak out. Issues like this will not change unless people talk and educate the general mass. Professional athletes are expected to stay within the realm of their sport and not speak on issues that concern them.
Lebron James has repeatedly been told to stick to basketball whenever he spoke out on racial injustice. People argue that millionaires like Lebron James would never experience these issues. Although that's not true, just because a player doesn't completely relate to the social issue does not mean they have to ignore the problem. Ignoring a problem that doesn't affect them does not solve the problem. It just makes the unaffected people feel better that they aren't doing anything. This is why we need professional athletes to speak out against social injustices. They need to let everyone know constitutional rights are being attacked and those who speak out are silenced.
