“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg broke with her co-panelists Thursday, making a passionate case for the championship-winning New York Knicks to accept a White House invitation — framing the visit not as an endorsement of President Trump but as a statement about Black history and resilience.
“I want them to go,” Ms. Goldberg said on the ABC talk show’s live broadcast. “I want all those Black men to stand in our house and remind all of those people, as we tried to remind the vice president, that when you try to destroy one part of history, you’re destroying all of our histories.”
She added that the players’ journey as champions — who came back from adversity — was itself a message worth delivering.
“And they, as champions — not only as amazing basketball players, but as people who were down and came back up, this is what this looks like,” she said. “If only, so the kids know, that nobody, nobody can keep you down if you are rising up.”
Ms. Goldberg also made clear the visit should transcend politics.
“For me, for this moment, it must be about more than him,” she told her co-hosts.
Her co-hosts were not convinced. Joy Behar said she was “feeling two ways about it,” noting that respect for the institution of the White House does not require respect for its current occupant. Sunny Hostin pointed to the established pattern of NBA champions rejecting White House invitations under Mr. Trump, noting that he “politicizes the events that come before him.” Sara Haines acknowledged Ms. Goldberg’s reasoning, arguing that the contrast of the players showing up and “standing tall” would itself send a message.
Every NBA champion crowned during either of Mr. Trump’s administrations had declined a White House visit before the Knicks — a run of five consecutive refusals spanning the Golden State Warriors (2017 and 2018), the Toronto Raptors (2019), the Los Angeles Lakers (2020) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (2025), according to multiple reports.
The debate follows Knicks owner James Dolan’s confirmation Wednesday that the team has accepted a White House invitation to celebrate its 2026 NBA championship — the franchise’s first title since 1973. Mr. Dolan, a longtime friend of Mr. Trump’s, announced the decision during an appearance on WFAN New York’s “The Carton Show.”
“We just did receive an invitation from the White House, which we accepted,” he said. “I’ve known him for 30 years, and I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House.”
Details of the visit, including the date and the size of the traveling party, have not been finalized. It remains unclear how many players will attend. Guard Jose Alvarado told TMZ Sports he would go if his teammates decided to: “I’m going wherever my teammate goes.”
The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the NBA Finals. If the visit proceeds, it would mark the first time an NBA champion has visited the White House under Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump attended Game 3 of the Finals at Madison Square Garden — the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game — after Mr. Dolan extended a personal invitation.
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