Charles Barkley on Warriors not going to White House: ‘I think that sets a bad precedent’

Many athletes have shown their support for the Golden State Warriors not wanting to visit President Donald Trump in the White House. Charles Barkley, however, was not on board with those athletes.

President Donald Trump made headlines this morning when he tweeted that the Golden State Warriors would not be welcomed to the White House in celebrating their 2017 NBA championship.

The Warriors, namely stars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, have been vocal against the United States’ 45th president, and there has been speculation ever since they won the title back in mid-June over the Cleveland Cavaliers that they would not be visiting the White House as a team.

Well, now they can’t even if they end up wanting to.

Since President Trump’s tweets, there has been a lot of backlash toward him, namely from other star athletes such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. In the midst of it all, however, NBA legend Charles Barkley said that he believes what the Warriors refused to do sets a bad precedent going forward.

Here is Barkley’s statement.

"“I think it’s really unfortunate. I think that it’s an honor and privilege to go to the White House, no matter who the president is. And also, I thought it would have been an opportunity for those guys to sit down and talk to the president about some of the issues and concerns they had.”“We’re all concerned about police brutality. I’m concerned about DACA. They could have negotiated a sit-down instead of just coming in, do that informal stuff where he stands there and you get your jersey and everything. It’s unfortunate. It’s just really sad, to be honest with you. When guys start not going to the White House because they don’t like who the president is, I think that sets a bad precedent.”"

Whether you agree with him or not, Barkley does have a point. Precedents are, in fact, huge. How many NFL players were kneeling during the national anthem before Colin Kaepernick started that trend? Somewhere around zero. Yet now, you can’t count them on two hands, even on just a weekly basis.

Barkley also illustrates what could have a slippery slope effect in saying that it sets a bad precedent when athletes start not going to the White House because they don’t like the president is. At that point, where do we start drawing the line?

What Barkley says should not be taken lightly by either side of the argument. Naturally, many people were on board with the Warriors wanting to skip the White House trip to begin with, and many weren’t.

But when President Trump announced that he had rescinded their invitation to the White House, the same people that supported the Warriors not going to begin with started making Trump out to be the bad guy for rescinding that invitation, and the same people who scoffed at the Warriors for not wanting to go all of a sudden made Trump out to be a hero for not allowing them to come to the White House.

If we are really going to overcome the division that has grown throughout this nation, specifically within the last decade, it starts with accepting the fact that disagreements are inevitable. That is what Barkley is getting at, and he is doing so without taking sides.

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What are your thoughts on Charles Barkley’s take regarding President Donald Trump and the Golden State Warriors?