The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are the two most politically left-wing teams in all of the NBA, and now, they face each other again after possibly their most “woke” year ever.
On one side of the court are the Golden State Warriors whose players and coach Steve Kerr have spent the past two years slamming Republicans and President Donald Trump at every opportunity.
The winners of last year’s NBA championship are so anti-Trump that the president disinvited them from the White House to celebrate their big win. Instead the team visited the African American Museum in Washington, DC.
But the White House visit kerfuffle is far from the only incident. The team has a long history of left-wing political activism.
In February, for instance, Warriors forward Kevin Durant called Fox News Host Laura Ingraham a racist, for telling NBA star LeBron James to “shut up and dribble.”
At that same time, Durant added that President Donald Trump’s behavior has allowed people to be racists. The player said Trump “made it cool for people to kind of speak their truth and kind of show what they’re really about.”
Warriors top shooter Stephen Curry has also been a frequent critic of the president. In 2017 Curry tweeted that Trump was an “ass.” Curry also preemptively announced that he would not go to the White House if the team was invited to celebrate its 2017 NBA championship.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has been rivaled only by spurs coach Greg Popovich, when it comes to attacking President Trump.
In 2017, Kerr accused Trump of “dividing” the nation and said that the president isn’t calming storms “he’s creating them.” Months before that he slammed Trump as a terrible leader. And as the year dawned, Kerr attacked the president over his policy of temporarily limiting immigration from a list of terror-scarred nations.
Yet, Kerr has not limited his extreme, left-wing proclamations to mere attacks on Donald Trump. He has also used his fame to attack the Second Amendment.
This month, for instance, Kerr said that Americans need to have their guns confiscated and “locked up.” To back up his anti-gun stance, Kerr participated in several anti-gun marches. He also recently hinted that he thinks the National Rifle Association is responsible for school shootings.
In another case, Kerr attacked the National Football League for trying to prevent players from protesting against the U.S.A. during the national anthem, calling the effort an example of “fake patriotism.”
The incidents above are only a small number of examples, naturally. However, the Warriors are hardly alone in their contempt for patriotism, the Second Amendment, and Donald Trump and his voters. Their opponents, the Cleveland Cavaliers, are not only competing on the hardwoods, but are competing with the Warriors to be the “wokest” team in the nation.
For one, as far back as December of 2016, Cavaliers swingman Imam Shumpert called Trump “crazy” and a “racist and sexist.”
The Cavs’ owner, Dan Gilbert, also got in the action that same year when he said that he thought star LeBron James should run for president instead of Donald Trump.
Cavaliers star LeBron James, of course, is a virulent anti-Trumper and is at the forefront of Trump critics.
Last year James attacked Americans who voted for Donald Trump saying their vote was a “mistake.” He later called Trump a “racist.” And early this year James insisted that Trump does not “give a f**k” about people.
James also got in a tête-à-tête with Fox News personality Laura Ingraham who said she was sick and tired of hearing the hatemongering from sports stars and told players such as James to “shut up and dribble.” At one point as the finger pointing raged, James told conservative fans to shut up and warned them that he was going to continue speaking out in support of left-wing issues.
In a league filled with Trump haters, race-baiters, and left-wingers, the Cavaliers and the Warriors are going head-to-head both on the court and in the court of left-wing public opinion. No one knows who will prevail, but no matter what happens, it promises be the “wokest” NBA championship ever.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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