Open Invitation to the 2017 NBA Champions, Golden State Warriors, to tour the National Mall

OPEN LETTER

June 13, 2017

Rick Welts
President & COO
Golden State Warriors
1011 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94607

Dear Mr. Welts,

Congratulations to you and the entire Golden State Warriors organization on your most recent NBA championship! The team’s bold and highly spirited journey through this season exemplified the determination and commitment of a true warrior.

As you know well, championship teams enjoy a visit to Washington, D.C. for a celebration of the winning effort. To extend the team’s championship parade to America’s front yard, we offer for the very first time to an NBA team an open invitation to the Golden State Warriors front office, coaching staff and players to tour the National Mall with one of our experienced guides.

The National Mall is home to our country’s greatest symbols of warriors in combat and cause.

From the advance party of helmeted soldiers wading through the symbolic rice paddies of Korea and the thousands of glistening gold stars that symbolically mark the lives lost in the Atlantic and Pacific conflicts of World War II, to the majestic gaze of the statue celebrating the landmark president who abolished slavery and the swelling stature of the memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s struggle for freedom and equality – these warriors endured harrowing battles of warfare and ideology. The National Mall continues to be the grounds where history is made day by day as a gathering place to celebrate our shared ideals and make our voices heard.

As the most visited national park in the country, the National Mall hosts an estimated 36 million visits annually. But behind the façade is a crumbling infrastructure. Like a championship team, it takes hard work and dedication to maintain an optimally functioning National Mall. At the Trust, we actively work with our partners to create greater awareness around this pressing need to preserve and transform this national treasure. Please consider this an open invitation to tour the National Mall when you visit Washington and become reconnected to the moving memorials honoring our nation’s warriors.

Regards,

Catherine Townsend
President & CEO, Trust for the National Mall

cc: National Basketball Association
National Basketball Players Association