Earlier this year, I wrote a post entertaining the idea that athletes should not have to just "stick to sports" as they're constantly told. In case you haven't read that yet, you can check it out here: "STICK TO SPORTS!" As of recently, there's been an increase in the amount of athletes voicing their opinions on certain matters; most of them relating to the politics in America. This is mostly due to the racial injustices that are still very present in today's times, as well as the lack of progress made by the leader of this country. This is a quote from my previous post that I hold to be more true than ever before: 

If an athlete, musician, or anyone else in the public eye wants to speak up for what they believe in, then by all means - we should encourage that! You are allowed to disagree with their opinion, but you cannot criticize them for having one. 

I had previously planned on writing about the top moments of the San Francisco Giants' 2017 baseball season, however I'm going to put that on hold until next week. I was mainly inspired to write this because of what happened on Saturday morning in conjunction with Steph Curry and Donald Trump regarding a possible White House visit from the Golden State Warriors. In addition, the whole narrative surrounding Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players taking a knee during the National Anthem has sparked a lot of controversy. I'll begin with the former, and then proceed to discuss the latter.

When the Golden State Warriors won the 2017 NBA Championship, people began to speculate whether the players would make the traditional visit to the White House. Due to the prior comments made about Donald Trump from certain athletes and coaches, a skipped visit didn't seem too unlikely. On Friday afternoon, Steph Curry confirmed in an interview that the team planned on sitting down to evaluate the situation. It was mentioned that together they would decide whether to make the trip or not. Here is Steph Curry speaking about that:

It turns out that Trump did not appreciate the comments made, and he decided to rescind the team's invitation to the White House in a tweet at 5:45AM PST the following morning.

Considering the fact that the Warriors didn't even want to attend, this seems like quite the ridiculous move. It's like a 5-year-old telling someone that they're uninvited from their birthday party, simply because that person said that they didn't want to go.

In response to this move, several athletes have spoken up. Lebron James earned some brownie points with myself, Warriors fans, and several others from this following tweet: 

He also posted a video going more in-depth with his opinion on the subject. In that video, he speaks about how the president keeps trying to divide the American people. Sports, as he describes, typically bring people together because of everyone's passion for the game. I highly suggest watching the video so you can hear just how eloquently Lebron James describes his viewpoint. You can watch it here:

The Warriors also made a statement in response to Trump and here is what they said: 

Many other athletes are very supportive of Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors as well. Here are just a few of the other tweets that came flooding in after the news broke about this situation: 

Steve Kerr in response said the following: 

Moving onto the second part of this post, Colin Kaepernick sparked an outcry when he decided to kneel during the National Anthem. Many people saw this move as disrespecting the American flag, the troops who have served this country, and overall being unpatriotic. For months, he has endured backlash across every single social media platform and amongst American citizens. NFL teams have been afraid to sign him because of the controversy that he has created. 

Donald Trump has been very outspoken about his stance on this matter. On Friday evening, he called Colin Kaepernick and anyone who kneels during the anthem a "son of a b*tch" who must be fired. The response from the former 49ers quarterback's mother was a good one:

This morning, the president went on another tweet spree to talk about how NFL ratings are low and games are boring. That is most definitely not accurate. In an attempt to condemn these football players and stop them from expressing their political stances on the field, this has only caused an increase in kneeling players. I can guarantee that more players than ever before are going to taking a knee today. Not only has this form of protest spread across the football league, but last night the first MLB player knelt during the anthem. Bruce Maxwell of the Oakland Athletics decided to take a knee, not because he wanted to disrespect the country or constitution, but because he wanted to show solidarity with the people who don't have a voice.

The Chairman and CEO of the New England Patriots made a statement this morning. Coming from someone whose team is viewed as "All-American" and the full embodiment of what it means to be a true patriot, hence the name, this move was a big one. I've already seen quite a few tweets from Patriots fans saying they're going to boycott the football games, and they have every right to feel that way. But in the same context of them being allowed to express their opinions, so are these athletes.

I could go on for hours about this topic and provide numerous amounts of screenshots and tweets. The main point I want to make is that more than ever before, we need the sports world to continue to engage in politics. We need athletes and coaches to use their presence to better educate people and spread awareness. The division that the president is trying to create is unacceptable, and having athletes from across the board come together creates a force to be reckoned with. In the past 24 hours, players from the NFL, NBA, and MLB have all united on a much deeper level than just being professional athletes.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Athletes are not just here for our entertainment. While we can enjoy watching them on the field, court, etc., they are also human beings who have opinions. Who are you to say that they're not allowed to voice that opinion? If you don't agree with something they say, you're more than welcome to not engage with it. However, saying that they should keep their mouths shut and just "play ball" is absurd. The "stick to sports" narrative is officially dead and needs to stay that way.

While it appears that Trump has wanted to continue to divide people, this has done quite the opposite. Sports rivalries are huge, such as the one between the Cleveland Caveliers and the Golden State Warriors, yet this has brought both fans and players together to fight for one common cause. We need more of that in this world. I fully endorse athletes speaking their minds to evoke necessary change and a greater awareness. This is something that should be celebrated rather than condemned. I hope that this trend of sports + politics going hand-in-hand continues and I hope that more people become accepting of this narrative. It's an important one.