Golden State Warriors All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson (in blue and yellow strip) revealed that the National Basketball Association champions plan to tour an African-American museum instead of making the traditional visit to the White House
Golden State Warriors All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson (in blue and yellow strip) revealed that the National Basketball Association champions plan to tour an African-American museum instead of making the traditional visit to the White House Getty

Defending National Basketball Association (NBA) champions, the Golden State Warriors, plan to tour an African-American museum with local students in Washington instead of making the traditional visit to the White House.

Warriors All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson revealed that when the Californian team hit the capital on Wednesday (28 February) they will drop in on the National Museum of African American History and Culture instead of chatting with Donald Trump.

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Thompson said: "The White House is a great honour, but there's extenuating circumstances that we felt that we're not comfortable doing."

He added: "We're not going to politicise anything, we're just going to hang out with some kids, take them to an African-American museum and hopefully teach them things we learned along the way and life lessons, and we'll still be getting some great memories."

It has become a feature of the US Basketball season that the defending champions stop at the White House as part of their trip to the capital, where they play the Washington Wizards tonight.

However, the US president said his invitation was "withdrawn" last year after the Warriors coach Steve Kerr and star point guard Stephen Curry questioned whether the team should make the visit.

Trump said in a tweet on 23 September last year: "Going to the White House is considered a great honour for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!"

Coach Kerr has also been an outspoken critic of the president, labelling his attacks on athletes as "racist" and "misogynistic. Instead of unifying and trying to calm the storm, he's creating it," Kerr said in November.

Trump has said that football players who do not stand for the US national anthem, also called taking the knee, "disrespected" the country and should be "fired" by their team owners.

A number of stars from the Philadelphia Eagles, who won the Super Bowl earlier this month, have also said they will not be part of the football team's traditional visit to the White House. The team's defensive end Chris Long, wide receiver Torrey Smith and safety Malcolm Jenkins have all said they do not want to meet the president.

The NBA's LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers star shooting guard, said last month said that Trump "has given people and racism, and negative racism, an opportunity to be out and outspoken without fear."