Well, it didn’t take long for President Donald Trump to do what literally every person with knowledge of how he operates expected him to do.
Before departing for the G7 summit in Canada, Trump said that the White House will not invite either the Golden State Warriors or the Cleveland Cavaliers for a meeting after one of them wins the NBA championship.
The Warriors are up 3-0, so it’s increasingly likely that it will be the Warriors who will miss the ceremonial trip to the White House for a second consecutive year.
This declaration comes after LeBron James said that neither team in the Finals wanted to go to the White House to see Trump.
Trump recently disinvited the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after news broke that less than 10 players were expected to attend the White House meeting.
In fact, there were reports that the only player who had actually given a confirmation that he’d attend was Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles.
It was only a matter of time before Trump made this decision. He wanted to save face and avoid the embarrassment of a sparse gathering.
TV ratings and poll numbers seem to be of paramount importance to him, and any type of indication that he’s not well received is something he wants to avoid at all costs.
As absurd as the image of a solitary Eagles player shaking hands with the president at the White House would have been, it’s likely nobody from the Warriors or Cavs would have gone if invited.
It’s reminiscent of the old “you can’t fire me… I quit!” line. Self-preservation in the face of humiliation is a commonly used defense mechanism.
Trump basically had two options as a response to the comments from the NBA players. It was either “If you change your mind about showing up, I’m here to meet with you” or “You don’t want to show up? Fine… you won’t be invited anyway.”
Judging from his past behavior, his decision regarding the eventual NBA champions is neither shocking nor out of character for him.