OAKLAND — So last week, I was watching the Warriors’ victory party — specifically, the parade and fan celebration in Oakland — and I noticed something.
As the hoo-ha unfolded, there were politicians on hand. A couple of mayors. Council members. County supervisors. Might have been some dogcatchers, as far as I know. They flocked to be alongside the new NBA champions.
In other words, the Warriors didn’t need to go see them. The politicians went to see the Warriors.
So why is it different when it comes to the president and the White House?
As of this writing, President Donald Trump has not invited the Warriors to visit him. But even before the players had lit up their championship cigars, a phony story popped up that they’d rejected the invitation. Warriors’ management quickly issued a statement saying that the team would make up its mind when the time came. But in the past, coach Steve Kerr has criticized the president and Steph Curry has said he wouldn’t go to the White House with Trump there.
Opinions on the issue were all over the map and very strident. Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins weighed in with the opinion that the Warriors should go and shake hands with the president as almost “a revolutionary act” of rapprochement in today’s world. A story in Forbes Magazine speculated that a Warriors’ snub of Trump might affect players’ endorsements or team sponsorships.
My question is far more basic Why would any team in any sport go to the White House to see any president, ever?
This has nothing to do with politics or parties or even personalities, although I know that’s difficult to conceive in this day and age. This is about being judicious and practical and … not so contrived.
I have never been to a White House celebration for a championship team. I have only watched from afar. But from speaking to people who have, my impression jibes with what they tell me. More or less, the whole thing is a big photo op and marketing stunt for whichever politicians happen to be in office at the time, from either party.
Remember, it’s not just the president who’s involved here. It’s also the congressional representatives, House and Senate, Republican or Democrat, from the districts where the team plays. They all want to horn in on the action. Posing with and glad-handing a championship team from your area is a sure way to show voters what a fantastic representative and cool dude or dudette you are.
Meanwhile, what do the players get out of it? A long security line. A visit to a place that any American can visit pretty much any time, in a city where they likely play games every year. And then the photo-op handshake with a president who may or may not actually like them … or even know who they are. President Trump is a well-known Tom Brady fan and openly roots for the New York Yankees. But it’s unclear if he’s ever uttered a word about the Warriors — or the NBA, for that matter.
Meanwhile, President Obama was and is a basketball fan. But he seemed to enjoy his best interaction with Steph Curry on the golf course, not at some stiff and staged encounter inside a ballroom between cabinet meetings. President Trump, no stranger to the golf links, could invite any famous athlete to play with him if he wished.
When the teams appear at the White House, presidents usually recite silly or stiff remarks prepared by their speechwriters and often aren’t convincing when they do. The players and coaches force smiles. It almost looks painful.
So why does it even happen? According to most historical narratives, the tradition of sports teams visiting the White House began in 1865, shortly after the Civil War. President Andrew Johnson invited two amateur baseball teams from Brooklyn and Washington to meet him. The Cincinnati Red Stockings, predecessors to the Reds, visited President U.S. Grant in 1869. Because of this, we are supposed to believe that teams and presidents getting together in D.C. is a fine and hoary tradition, not to be violated.
Except that’s not true. The first NBA champs to visit the White House didn’t happen until 1963. And often, the winning teams have notable absentees. Larry Bird didn’t meet with President Reagan with the rest of his championship Boston Celtics team in 1984, without giving a reason why. Seven years later, Michael Jordan chose to play golf rather than meet President George H.W. Bush with the Chicago Bulls.
Were those regarded as political statements at the time? Frankly, I can’t recall. But it’s not a basketball-only thing. In football, Brady skipped the New England Patriots’ most recent White House visit. Most famously, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ James Harrison missed his team’s White House visits hosted by both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, implying that both were both frontrunners because they only wanted to meet with the Steelers after they won. Harrison said if the president wanted to meet him, the president could always come to a game or practice.
It’s a fair point. I was never a Richard Nixon fan. But he had the right idea on this concept. He never invited any teams to the White House, even the undefeated Miami Dolphins of 1972. Instead, Nixon traveled to see the games and teams he wanted. In 1969, he flew to Fayetteville to see the Arkansas-Texas game and present the winner a national championship plaque.
This made perfect sense. The president is the guy with the private plane and helicopter. It’s far easier for the president to travel and see a team rather than vice versa. The mayors and other politicos in the Bay Area don’t have planes or helicopters but managed to find their way to Oakland and salute the Warriors.
There’s nothing wrong with people — even politicians — being fans of the Warriors. But why should those politicians get special privileges ahead of other fans. Personally, if I’m the Warriors, I’d rather go visit the Dance-Cam Mom.
