The Golden State Warriors appear to be as adroit at playing politics as they are at basketball.
In Washington D.C., for a game against the Wizards on Thursday, the 2018 National Basketball Association Champions had a pre-game visit with the President—the 44th U.S. president, Barack Obama, to be exact.
The San Francisco Bay area team apparently decided to change things up after last year when, as 2017 NBA champions, they were disinvited by President Donald Trump for the traditional winning-team visit to the White House.
This year, with their back-to-back championship title, the Warriors didn’t wait for an invitation from the Republican president, nor was one forthcoming. Without fanfare, the team privately met with his Democratic predecessor, before their eight-point win over the Wizards.
Some of the Warriors also met with Trump rival House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who attended Thursday night’s game. Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, and Trump are locked in their own standoff over the prolonged federal government partial shutdown.
Looks like the Warriors paid a visit to President Barack Obama during their visit to Washington DC. pic.twitter.com/D5PSwjc3Gl
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) January 25, 2019
A team picture taken at the visit with Obama was posted by a team security guard on Instagram, which was captured by the San Jose Mercury News before it was deleted.
The chilly relationship between the Warriors and Trump began last year after player Steph Curry criticized the president. When Trump rescinded their invitation, the team visited the National Museum of African-American History and Culture with local Washington students.