Toronto Raptors forward Danny Green shut down the idea that the 2019 NBA champions would pay a visit to the White House.
“I just don’t think that we accept,” Green said during Yahoo’s Inside the Green Room.
“I try to respect everybody in every field that they do regardless of how crazy things are, but he makes it really hard. He makes it very, very tough to respect how he goes about things and does things.”
“To put it politely,” he continued, “I think it’s a hard no.”
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While no official invitation has been made to the Canadian team, Trump toyed with the idea last week.
“They played phenomenal basketball. I watched a little bit of it. They were really terrific,” he told reporters.
“That was a great job by a great team. So we’ll think about that, if they’d like to do it.”
The Raptors made history earlier this month, beating the Golden State Warriors in the finals and bringing the NBA title to Canada for the first time. The win also marked the first time a team other than the Warriors took home the trophy during Trump’s presidency.
It’s seen as customary for the White House to host the NBA champions as a congratulatory meet-and-greet.
In the past, Warriors players like Stephen Curry have been publicly critical of Trump. In 2017, after Curry expressed hesitation about visiting the president, Trump withdrew the team’s invite.
Green joked in the interview that even if Trump does formally offer the Raptors an invitation, he’ll likely “take his invite back.”
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Raptors head coach Nick Nurse danced around the possibility of a Trump invite last week. Nurse said he’d rather the team visit Parliament Hill and that a meeting is in the works with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“You know, we’re here. Let’s go see Trudeau up in Ottawa,” he said. “We’re Canada’s team.”
Nurse said he’s heard “nothing about the White House.”
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