OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry emerged from the Golden State Warriorstraining room with a huge grin. He'd had all morning to decide how to respond to being called out in a tweet by President Donald Trump and disinvited to celebrate the Warriors' NBA title at the White House. And as he walked over to address a crowd of about two dozen sports reporters who were all of a sudden swimming in the same strange political pond, Curry was all smiles.
"Anyone got any basketball questions?" Curry joked to break the ice.
It was funny for a moment, but as the words left his mouth, both Curry and the assembled crowd seemed to realize that all of this was probably intertwined forever now.
"The last time athletes have been this outspoken was with Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell," head coach Steve Kerr told ESPN. "That's the last time probably we've seen this kind of division in the country and with civil rights issues.
"Now all of a sudden, our country is in a really weird place, and everything is blending together."
Late-night comics are debating health care policy with senators. LeBron Jamesis tweeting at the president, "U bum." NFL owners are issuing statements decrying the president's tweets on the peaceful protest their players have engaged in to call attention to racism and police brutality. The NFL Players Association is making videos urging its players to stand together on Sunday to protest the president's condemnations, with imagery from civil rights era protest marches.
It's all intertwined now.
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