Miss Manners probably wouldn’t approve of turning down an invitation before it’s offered, let alone publicly criticizing your presumed host. But Iman Shumpert is choosing getting real over being polite.
The Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard told Complex Magazine he wouldn’t go to Donald Trump’s White House, even if the team wins another NBA championship.
“I’m not going to the White House,” Shumpert said in the interview published Wednesday.
Shumpert, who voiced support for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton ahead of the election, expanded on his view of Trump’s win:
I understand people’s stance on Trump. I can’t get caught up in the racial, sexist bullshit he’s got going on. That’s his personal thing, ya dig? But I just don’t think he can make anything shake like that. He not finna start no civil war out here. I do think he’s crazy—straight up. I think he did that stuff to get people to think he’s willing to shake it up. But did I vote for him? No. The other stuff that comes with him, I can’t get with. But now that he’s here, I’m not finna drag my feet. I gotta work here, at least until the offseason, if I wanna go get a crib in the Islands.
Shumpert was happy to go the White House last month on an invitation from President Barack Obama in honor of the Cavs’ first championship. Obama cracked jokes about the team and was presented with his own Cavs jersey.
Obama also blew Shumpert’s mind with his ability to move a presidential lectern:
On a more serious note, Shumpert expressed gratitude for the chance to meet the president and first lady.
Shumpert’s teammate, LeBron James, has also denounced Trump, though not quite as forcefully.
Last month, James said he was unsure if he’d go to Trump’s White House if he were invited, despite several visits during Obama’s presidency.
“We’ll have to cross that road,” James told the Akron Beacon Journal. He said the election result was “difficult,” but urged people to move forward and work on making the country better.
Several NBA coaches condemned Trump’s racist and sexist rhetoric after his victory, including Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, who called the president-elect “openly and brazenly racist and misogynistic and ethnic-centric” the day after the election.
“I don’t know how you go about it, if you’re a person of color today or a Latino,” Van Gundy said. “Because white society just said to you, again ― not like we haven’t forever ― but again, and emphatically, that I don’t think you deserve equality.”
Shumpert also seems pretty fearless when it comes to fashion — which is what he spent most of the time talking about with Complex — whether he’s wearing an extravagant designer jacket to the arena or walking around New York City in a crop top.
“I also have a $6,000 Phillip Lim coat with pockets that are big enough to fit a sandwich,” he said. “That’s why I got it.”
Read more at Complex.
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