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NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant says he won’t visit the Trump White House if the Warriors are invited

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant won the first NBA title of his 10-year career this summer.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
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The Golden State Warriors have yet to be invited to the White House to celebrate their 2017 NBA title. But if such a visit happens, finals MVP Kevin Durant won’t be joining other members of the organization in hanging out with President Trump.

“Nah, I won’t do that,” Durant told ESPN on Thursday. “I don’t respect who’s in office right now.”

Durant’s hometown of Seat Pleasant, Md., is 11 miles from Washington, D.C., and he used to dream of making the traditional White House visit after winning an NBA championship. But after earning his first ring after 10 years in the league, Durant is willing to let go of that childhood fantasy as a matter of principle.

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“I don’t agree with what he agrees with, so my voice is going to be heard by not doing that,” Durant said of visiting Trump in the White House. “That’s just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they’ll all agree with me.”

He added of Trump: “I feel ever since he’s got into office, or since he ran for the presidency, our country has been so divided, and it’s not a coincidence. When [Barack] Obama was in office, things were looking up. We had so much hope in our communities where I come from because we had a black president, and that was a first.

“So to see that and to be where we are now, it just felt like we took a turn for the worse, man. It all comes from who is in the administration. It comes from the top. Leadership trickles down to the rest of us. So, you know, if we have someone in office that doesn’t care about all people, then we won’t go anywhere as a country. In my opinion, until we get him out of here, we won’t see any progress.”

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii

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