About That Warriors White House Visit

Barely hours after the Golden State Warriors won their second title in three season, a report claimed the team had already decided to skip the White House ceremony usually available to championship teams. It seemed plausible, but the claim had little proof supporting it.

The report picked up steam when Josh Brown, a CEO at an investment firm and contributor to CNBC, cited “reports.”

A whole lot of outlets ran with this as fact, even without anyone being clear on what “reports” Brown was referring to, because there didn’t actually appear to be any.

Vocativ talked to Brown, who said he had learned of the news from NBCUniversal executive Mike Sington, who appears to throw a lot of shit at the wall:

The problem here is that Sington’s tweet came after Brown’s. So Brown still hasn’t cited any reports for his claim.

If this story doesn’t contain enough evidence for you, congratulations. You’re pickier than New York Daily News columnist Shaun King:

Hours later, the Warriors released a statement saying that they hadn’t made a decision:

Given some of the Warriors’ public opinions on Trump— Steph Curry, David West, and head coach Steve Kerr have openly spoken about their dislike of President Trump—it was a good bet to think that most, if not all, of the team would decline an invitation, but what’s being presented is at best an educated rumor that could be accidentally right, but isn’t based in fact. Until a better report comes out, let Kevin Durant choke on his beer in peace.