Warriors at White House: adventures, video, notes & quotes

[exhaustive collection of info from team’s visit]

Exhaustive coverage of the Golden State Warriors’ visit to the White House via video, notes & quotes below. I’ll add a few anecdotes:

• Someone who stuck close with Stephen Curry outside to where he and Draymond Green had interview scrums in the back had to be escorted back through the White House to exit from the entrance, as they were not part of the team traveling crew.

• As you can see by Mistah FAB’s truly fabulous recap, people who were invited that were not actually members of the Warriors exited out the same way they entered: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnlOICYK5Q6/?igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE= [hyperlinks again don’t work in the mobile browser version of Substack, apologies that you have to copy and paste the link]

• An additional clip of Kamala Harris welcoming the Warriors, even though it was only the assistant coaches, was not discovered in time to be included in our behind-the-scenes video (which is embedded and playable below): https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cnk185oIj-l/?igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE=

• We might have a guest on tonight’s Boston Celtics game livestream who was there, to tell us all the ins and outs and behind-the-scenes stories. More info will be divulged assuming we confirm this person.

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• LGW member Lori with the quick recap as the event wrapped up: “I watched the ceremony. It was nice to see. But they brought the team in and they stood in the front and someone didn't put poor James Wiseman in the back and he did his best to get there because he's so tall. Kamala Harris spoke, then Joe Biden and Steph came out. Biden spoke, and then Steph, and they got the traditional jerseys.”

• Near Wiseman, Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco was in prime TV position behind the podium which was kinda funny too.

• Wiseman probably had to be in the front because having a seven-footer in the back on a riser might be risky, plus still recovering from that sprained ankle. When someone on Twitter mentioned that Jordan Poole was standing at an awkward angle next to Bob Myers, Whitley Sandretto of 95.7 The Game wrote, “The risers they were standing on were VERY small and had limited space. I’m guessing JP took one for the team and stood sideways so everyone could fit.”

• My guess as to why Joe Biden knelt in front of the team for the iconic picture (see Stephen Curry quote near the end of this post), is that — and you can see this from our video — Harris was having trouble fitting into the front row so, per the very small risers situation explained above, Biden noticed this and avoided any potential further complications or embarrassment by simply kneeling in front. Of course, this is just a theory.

The notes & quotes below are in chronological order (usually for games, I list them reverse-chronologically):

DISCLAIMER: These are all just notes for my main workflow of YouTube videos, tweeted by beatwriters, as listed, or transcribed by me. I used to transcribe every interview but it became too tedious and not worth the investment for the small amount of views we got on the soundbites on YouTube. The links to the tweets are not available because sometimes I don’t use the full tweet and just having a ton of tweets on this website imo isn’t aesthetically pleasing and gets away from the main goal: transferring information (not so much entertainment) to the brains of DubNation asap.

• Steph at the podium for the briefing: “A great opportunity for us, from the basketball community, to thank President Biden and his staff for all their hard work and diligence in getting Brittney Griner home.” (NBA)

• Kerr noted during his briefing remarks that that he, Klay Thompson, and Moses Moody took part in a gun violence roundtable with senior administration officials earlier in the day: “We learned a lot about what this administration is doing to help create a safer environment in our country.” (Christian Datoc, Kendra Andrews)

• Kamala Harris: “DubNation is in the house…My pride in the Warriors today is not only because they win, but because these players, their coaches, and this entire organization consistently stand for the principles of equity, equality, and justice” (NBCSBA, Madeline Kenney)

• Vice President, and lifelong GSW fan, Kamala Harris recounts the time she hopped on a packed train to make sure she didn't miss the start of a Warriors victory. (NBA)

• President Joe Biden: “Let me just say the Golden State Warriors are always welcome in this White House…No more droughts, I mean in California.” (95.7 The Game, Marc Spears)

• President Joe Biden discusses it being 60 years since Bill Russell and the Celtics were the first NBA Champions to visit The White House and encourages the Warriors players to continue to stand up for what they believe in. (NBA)

• President Joe Biden jokes about knowing what it was like when people were doubting if the Warriors could be a championship team again. (NBA)

• Biden on Kerr: “He's running out of fingers…Y'all see the size of those rings?” (NBA, NBATV)

• Steph Curry presents President Biden and Vice President Harris custom Warriors jerseys. Curry suggested Biden hangs his in the Oval Office. (Madeline Kenney)

• Steph Curry said he got golf balls with the presidential seal printed on them as well as a presidential coin: “I’ve gotta have that on my person at all times.” (Madeline Kenney, me via Kerith Burke/NBCSBA)

• Draymond Green outside scrum with a smirk: “It’s been a very great visit and looking forward to coming back next year.” (Madeline Kenney)

• On if he and/or Steph would run for President: “I think Steph could someday run for president of the United States. Smart, put together, doesn’t really make mistakes. Why not?…I don’t know if anyone in this country wants me as President. Secretary of Defense though.” (95.7 The Game)

• Draymond said there wasn’t McDonald’s today at The White House: “I didn’t expect McDonald’s this time around, and of course it wasn’t. So, I was thankful for that.” (95.7 The Game)

• Steph outside for WarriorsTV to DubNation: “Hopefully we’ll be back with another trophy.” (Warriors)

• On the visit happening after MLK Day: “That definitely amplified it I think. We’ve been aware of what Dr. King has meant, and his legacy. We’re working every year on that holiday. That’s another time to reflect on ... how to amplify his message in our daily lives.”

• Steph said President Biden gifted him some golf balls: “I don’t think it will be a good idea to use them.” (95.7 The Game)

• Before presenting President Biden and Vice President Harris with Warriors jersey’s Curry, Biden and Harris addressed those gathered. Nancy Pelosi, E-40, as well as other politicians and Bay Area musicians were in attendance. (Kendra Andrews)

• Vice President Kamala Harris, a California native and longtime Warriors fan, spoke first at Tuesday's ceremony: “As a very proud daughter of Oakland, California, it gives me immense personal pride as the vice president of the United States to say, Dub Nation is in the house.” Harris said she has a custom Warriors jersey that she keeps by her treadmill at home, calling it “a symbol of grit, determination and teamwork.” (Kendra Andrews)

• Biden honored Curry as “one of the great sportsmen of our time.” He said the Warriors “reflect America” with their style of play, showcasing “constant motion, with individual freedom and personality that comes together as one team, a team that plays with joy, with drive to be their best…The last couple of years were pretty tough. Critics wondered if this team was gone for good as a championship team. Fellas, I know what it feels like.” (Kendra Andrews)

• Curry said he hopes to see the Biden jersey “on the wall of the Oval Office. Hopefully we can come back and check if it's up there.” (Kendra Andrews)

• Steph on Brittney Griner: “big part of our basketball family…It means a lot to know that she's here and home safe with her family.” (Kendra Andrews)

• Marc Spears exclusive with Stephen Curry at the White House: https://andscape.com/features/behind-the-scenes-with-the-warriors-mlk-day-hbcu-hoops-and-the-white-house/

“There are certain names when you hear them that mean something in terms of the progress that has been made and we all can honor him in our own ways, whether it’s in our communities at home or at-large. The fact that they’re still out in the public eye carrying his legacy, that says it all. That moment they had at half court was powerful. I tapped the scorer’s table and wasn’t worried about what coach was saying at the time because I was reflecting on history. There was a lot of history.”

With the likes of U.S. congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and rappers J. Cole, E-40 and Mistah Fab in attendance along with the King family…

…

About an hour after the game, King III and his family met with a very excited Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and general manager Bob Myers for about 10 minutes in a private room. The hope was that the King family would get to meet with players, too. It’s common for the King family to visit the Wizards on MLK Day.

Kerr and Myers invited King III and his family to visit the Warriors for a game in San Francisco in February during Black History Month. King III said he wanted to come. Kerr also told the King family he hoped to visit the King Memorial here on Wednesday morning.

…

About 30 minutes later, Pelosi and at least 20 people, including her security detail, took over the same private room and patiently waited for Curry. She was ecstatic when the Warriors star walked into the room still in uniform to visit her. Pelosi hugged Curry upon arrival.

…

“I felt like I did my first time back in Africa,” Iguodala said during the panel discussion (after the Morehouse-Howard game that was attended by some of the Warriors). “I’m of African descent. My pops is from Nigeria. When I landed and got to the city [of Lagos, Nigeria], it was like a warm embrace just seeing us, especially with my background studying our people. It’s always beautiful to see us together and see the community.

“It was a great basketball game. There was so much entertainment with the band, the dancers, and the cheerleaders. It was a beautiful atmosphere.”

…

“It was a wild morning because it was not what we expected,” Curry reflected to Andscape (about the morning of the Trump tweet un-inviting Curry in 2017) after beating the Wizards. “We planned to have a meeting about [the White House] that day at [our first] practice. I woke up and my wife tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Have you see this?’ I said, ‘What?’ She showed me the tweet. It was kind of a narrative for the day. It created a microcosm of all the tension at the time.

“We were going to have a mature conversation about how we were going to handle the situation. In his fashion, he got loud and took it into his own hands. At the end of the day, it was my decision and the group’s decision. Now, we have another opportunity to go back, which is pretty cool.”

…

“We weren’t invited, but I don’t think we would’ve gone anyway,” Kerr told Andscape. “Those were the times. Part of the reason that Biden is in the White House is the majority of Americans desired calm and peace. It’s a calmer time. Things kind of go back to normal where you win a title and visit the White House. It’s a great day for everybody. There is not this big brouhaha.

“It has nothing to do with the party. I’ve met [President Ronald] Reagan. Both Bushes [Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush]. And I was thrilled to meet them. It has nothing to do with the party. It’s the human being. We just didn’t feel like Trump treated people with respect and it would have felt wrong to visit. But he beat us to the punch anyway.”

Added Warriors forward Draymond Green to Andscape: “Just to know that things are in a better place, and we can have that honor to celebrate a championship isn’t something to take it for granted. We were the first team to really lose that opportunity.”

…

“The way our fans support us is incredible,” Green said. “Short, Fab, 40, they embody everything of what it is to be a Warrior. The support has been there through the up days and down days. I love and appreciate it. They’ve taken us in as their own, and you have to show that love and appreciation back.”

…

…the 80-year-old Biden surprised the room by kneeling on the stage during a group picture taken with the Warriors and Harris. There was no explanation given for Biden kneeling.

Curry appreciatively called the moment “pretty dope.”

“Very symbolic and an iconic moment of a sense of what that image was,” said Curry, who visited the Oval Office and was given a special presidential coin and golf balls from Biden. “The fact that he would do it there. He didn’t put words to it, but he is just a humble server. That is how you want anyone to approach the position he is in let alone the magnitude of that moment. It was pretty dope. That picture is going to be one to keep.”

“…the good energy of gratitude and appreciation for what we have accomplished and the journey we’ve been on,” Curry said. “And you can collect the sports world and non-sports world to kind of bring those worlds together and talk about things that actually matter. It’s special.”

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