Whoopi Goldberg might as well have taken a master class at the Chris “Mad Dog” Russo School of Name Butchering.
To be fair, The View cohost wasn’t fumbling over a household name like Barack Obama — something Russo famously managed to do — but Diana Taurasi isn’t exactly a tongue twister, either. Sure, her last name might not roll off the tongue for everyone, but this is live television.
Someone could’ve easily spelled it out phonetically on the teleprompter.
Instead, Goldberg, a seasoned entertainer with decades of live TV experience, gave it her best shot and promptly cringed as she completely botched it. While welcoming one of the greatest women’s basketball players ever to The View, she confidently went with “Tour-ree-see” before immediately realizing she had either stuck the landing or crashed and burned.
It was the latter.
And in true Diana Taurasi fashion, the always-petty basketball legend made sure Goldberg knew about it.
Taurasi has always relished playing the villain, but this time, it was seemingly all in good-natured fun.
“Good to see you,” Goldberg told Taurasi.
“Good to see you, Whippie,” Taurasi quipped. “I mean — Whoopie.”
In her first television appearance since announcing her retirement from the WNBA, Taurasi clearly wouldn’t let it slide without having fun at Goldberg’s expense.
And why not? She’s positioning herself to be a Charles Barkley-like figure in sports media, after all.
