Kevin Durant expresses his dislike for President Trump

If the Golden State Warriors are invited to the White House in celebration for their NBA championship, Kevin Durant will not be attending.

“Nah, I won’t do that,” The 2017 NBA Finals MVP said in an interview with ESPN’s Chris Haynes. “I don’t respect who’s in office right now.”

It is an annual ritual for winning sports teams to visit the White House post-championship and the trip to the White House under the Obama Administration was widely anticipated by NBA players.

But after Trump’s dismissive and divisive response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Durant had confirmed much speculation about his attendance at the White House.

“I don’t agree with what he [Trump] agrees with,” Durant said. “So my voice is going to be heard by not doing that. That’s just me personally, but if I know my guys well enough, they’ll agree with me.”

Since the end of the NBA finals, the White House has yet to officially invite the Warriors for a visit, but it seems like the athletes have other things to worry about.

Durant joins a continuously growing amount of professional athletes, including the Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who have spoken out against President Trump and his comments on white supremacy and Confederate monuments following the Charlottesville rally.

Along with the former 49er, other members of the Warriors speak out against the President. Andre Iguodala said “hell nah” when asked by Sam Amick from USA Today if he would accept an invitation to the White House.

Durant also feels that Trump has taken part in raising the racial tension in America.

“He’s definitely driving it,” Durant said. “I feel like ever since he’s got into office, or since he ran for the presidency, our country has been so divided. When former Obama was in office, things were looking up. We had so much hope in our communities where I come from because we had a black president, and that was a first. In my opinion, until we get him out of here, we won’t see any progress.”

Durant commends various athletes for using their platforms to drive conversation in a good direction such as former 49er Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick is currently under fire for taking a knee during the National Anthem and avidly speaking out in opposition to Mr. Trump.

“For us to move forward we need more athletes and people of power and influence to come out and speak,” Durant said. “ It’s great to see a lot of athletes coming together and trying to direct a positive path for a lot of kids and a lot of people in this country who look up to us.”