Sue Bird: WNBA champion Seattle Storm have no interest in visiting White House – By Matt Eppers (usatoday.com) / Sept 14 2018
The Seattle Storm have not received an invitation from President Donald Trump to visit the White House. The new WNBA champs have no interest in going even if one is extended.
Seattle clinched the third championship in franchise history Tuesday night with a win over the Washington Mystics. Veteran point guard Sue Bird said Friday the team is not expecting an invitation from Trump and would decline to visit anyway.
“At this point, it doesn’t even really need to be discussed,” Bird said. “It’s come up. We paid attention to what happened with Minnesota not getting invited. Everyone knew when everything happened with Steph Curry and LeBron (James) on social media, all that stuff. We all pay attention and we watch.”
The Minnesota Lynx did not receive a White House invite after winning the WNBA title in 2017.
“I’m sure (the president) is going to say we’re not invited anyway,” Bird told KING5 on Thursday, “so it all works out well.”
The Lynx’s non-invite came after Trump withdrew an invitation to Curry and the Golden State Warriors after they won the 2017 NBA title. Trump has sparred with Curry and James on social media after the NBA stars made critical remarks about the president.
Trump also canceled a White House visit by the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after several players made critical remarks of their own and planned to skip the event.
Bird has made two trips to the White House in her career: with the Storm after winning the 2010 title and with Connecticut after winning the NCAA championship in 2002. She said the invitation is no longer the honor it used to be.
“I’ve been really fortunate to go, and it’s exciting,” Bird said. “You’re going to the White House. I remember first walking into the room to meet President Obama and the aura. … It’s insane.
“Now, that’s not the case anymore. It doesn’t feel exciting. Nobody wants to go. It’s totally changed. And that’s disappointing because it used to be, like I said, something that most athletes would look forward to.”
Storm forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who also won three NCAA titles at UConn, agreed with Bird. “I don’t see many people that are going to accept the invitation if they get one.”
