LeBron James and half of his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates will not stay at the Trump SoHo hotel in New York when they face the Knicks this week. Even though the team signed a contract long before the 2016 presidential election to stay in the hotel this season, the Cavaliers players who refuse to do so will be put up at a nearby hotel.
James and J.R. Smith showed their support for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton when they attended a rally in Ohio in November. Since Donald Trump became the president-elect, Smith has expressed his frustration over the results in a post on Instagram, but he also voiced his opinion about Trump prior to the election. “This situation is ridiculous that somebody like Trump can get this far saying the things he’s saying and doing the things he’s done over the course of his history with no political background,” Smith told the Akron Beacon Journal. “That’s ridiculous.”
James admitted that he wasn't sure if he would return to the White House with Trump in office, if the Cavs won the title. Meanwhile, Iman Shumpert has made it very clear that he would not go to the White House. Richard Jefferson took it a step further, claiming that the Cavs would the last team to visit the White House in quite some time.
The Cavaliers will become the fourth NBA team, joining the Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies, and Dallas Mavericks, to have players who will not stay at Trump-branded hotels.
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