Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James jumped in to defend Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors after President Donald Trump on Saturday criticized Curry on Twitter. | Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Trump sparks war with NFL — and LeBron Roger Goodell on Saturday called the president's comments about firing NFL players who protest the national anthem 'divisive,' while NBA superstar LeBron James jumped in to defend his friend Steph Curry.

President Donald Trump disinvited Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry from the White House on Saturday morning, just hours after taking the stage at a rally in Alabama and calling for football players who stage silent protests during the national anthem to be fired.

The president’s comments drew an unusually blunt rebuke from National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell, who said the “divisive comments” show a “lack of respect” for the nation’s most popular sport. LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers jumped in to defend Curry, calling Trump “u bum” and adding: “Going to the White House was a great honor until you showed up!”


The escalation in the White House’s war with professional sports figures over issues of race and intolerance underscored the extent to which the president has been unable to move on from remarks last month that seemed to equate Black Lives Matter protesters with neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, leaving one woman dead.

Trump took the stage in Huntsville, Alabama, on Friday in support of Republican Sen. Luther Strange and diverted himself into criticism of athletes.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘get that son of a bitch off the field right now — he’s fired,’” Trump said at a rally in Alabama for Republican Sen. Luther Strange.

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He added, “We’re proud of our country, and we’re proud of our flag.”

He repeated the sentiment on Saturday afternoon after Goodell responded, tweeting: “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL,or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, YOU’RE FIRED. Find something else to do!”

Later in the day, Trump specifically criticized the commissioner: “Roger Goodell of NFL just put out a statement trying to justify the total disrespect certain players show to our country.Tell them to stand!”

The president also directed his anger Saturday at basketball players, tweeting that he had withdrawn an invitation for the National Basketball Association champions Golden State Warriors to visit the White House after team star Curry said that given the choice, he would not go.

“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!” Trump wrote on Twitter, the latest in a series of early morning tweets.

Curry, a two-time NBA MVP, said during the team’s media day on Friday that if it was up to him, nixing the traditional White House appearance would be a “short conversation.”

Responding to the tweet, Curry told reporters the experience was "surreal," adding that Trump's approach was "kind of beneath" how a world leader should comport him or herself.

"It's not what leaders do," Curry said.

“By not going, hopefully that will inspire some change in terms of what we tolerate in this country,” Curry added, a reference to the president’s repeated equivocations about neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville.

In a later statement, the Warriors said that while the team had intended to meet this morning to reach a decision on whether to go to the White House they "accept that President Trump has made clear that we are not invited.

"We're disappointed that we did not have an opportunity during this process to share our views or have open dialogue on issues impacting our communities that we felt would be important to raise," the team added.

Instead, the team said it will use its February trip to Washington to "celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion - values we embrace as an organization."

NBA commissioner Adam Silver later released his own statement.

“I was in favor of the team visiting the White House and thought it was a rare opportunity for these players to share their views directly with the President,” Silver said. “I am disappointed that that will not happen. More importantly, I am proud of our players for taking an active role in their communities and continuing to speak out on critically important issues.”

Shortly before the president’s tweet, “Fox and Friends,” one of Trump’s favorite morning shows, aired a segment on Curry’s comments.

Along with LeBron James, the tweet drew a response from ESPN host Jemele Hill: “Welcome to the club, bro.”

Trump called for ESPN to apologize after Hill described Trump as a “white supremacist” in a series of tweets earlier this month.

In his statement Saturday, NFL commissioner Goodell said his league and its players were at its best when it “creates a sense of unity in our country and culture.”

“Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities,” Goodell said in a statement, which did not explicitly mention the president.

In a separate statement Saturday, NFL Players Union head DeMaurice Smith took a much harsher tone with the president, writing on Twitter that “we can no longer afford to stick to sports.”

“This union, however, will never back down when it comes to protecting the constitutional rights of our players as citizens as well as their safety as men who compete in a game that exposes them to great risk,” Smith said in a statement attached to his tweet.

Trump blamed the displays, in part, for dropping NFL ratings. “They’re down, way down,” he said.

He said people should “pick up and leave” during the protests, otherwise players wouldn’t change.

The president also mocked changes to NFL rules that have modified the game to avoid serious injuries, saying he recently watched a game with a big hit and enjoyed it — only to see the play flagged for a penalty.

On Twitter, President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., chimed in to support his father: “Love this: @realDonaldTrump on NFL players disrespecting our flag/anthem: “get that son of a bitch off the field right now — YOU’RE FIRED!”

San Francisco Quarterback Colin Kaepernick last year started a wave of silent game-day national anthem protests by players last season against racial inequality and police violence. He has yet to sign with an NFL team this season.

In March, Trump claimed during a rally in Kentucky that Kaepernick’s inability to find a new team was due to fear that president would unleash a tweet and therefore a PR crisis on whatever team that signed the Super Bowl XLVII participant.

“Do you believe that? I just saw that. I just saw that,” Trump said then of a Bleacher Report story on the topic. “I said that if I remember that one I’m gonna report it to the people of the Kentucky. Because they like it when people actually stand for the American flag.”

Goodell offered a muted response at the time, telling a reporter: “That’s a comment that he’s going to make and that’s fine.”

The NFL commissioner was also the subject of Trump’s Twitter ire before the former reality TV star and business mogul entered the White House.

“Roger Goodell must stop apologizing to everyone who will listen and toughen up. His street smart players are laughing at him and the NFL!,” Trump wrote in 2014, when Goodell suffered from intense blowback to his handling of allegations that then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice’s had assaulted his wife in a hotel elevator.

As a presidential candidate, Trump criticized the commissioner for “Deflategate” – the drama surrounding allegations that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, one of the NFL’s biggest stars, had deliberately underinflated game balls to gain a competitive advantage. Trump is close to Brady and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who has dined with the president at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

“The commissioner is a weak guy,” Trump told the New York Times. “When he made the Ray Rice deal, everybody said: You’re stupid. You’re weak. And it was such a weak deal. So now he’s going overboard with their star, Brady.”

He added: “The commissioner is a dope. He’s a stupid guy.”

