Fans of the New York Knicks are begging Donald Trump to stay away from Game 3 of the NBA Finals after his plan to attend has prompted enhanced security measures and concerns of courtside tension.
The president, a longtime Knicks fan, confirmed last week that he will be at Madison Square Garden for Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, which will mark the first NBA Finals game in New York since 1999.
The announcement led the Knicks to announce Saturday that a strict no-bag policy will be enforced at the iconic venue, along with “TSA-style screening procedures.” The team warned fans to bring as little as possible to the game, and encouraged them to arrive at least two hours before the scheduled 8:40 p.m. tip-off.
NBA devotees and New Yorkers alike flew into a rage at the announcement — and there appeared to be just as much concern about Trump being a distraction from the game as there was about the enhanced security crackdown.
“Can somebody pretty please prevent Trump from going to the Knicks Game?” rapper Azealia Banks wrote on X. “You dont get to cancel americas birthday party then come to the Knicks game and get booed and ruin the fun. We will lose if he comes… PLEASE BAN HIM.”
ESPN host Stephen Smith, a native New Yorker, said on his SiriusXM Radio show Friday: “I don’t want him there. It has nothing to do with politics, policy, or anything like that. It has everything to do with him disrupting and contributing at the same time to the chaos that’s going to be existing at Madison Square Garden.”
One person on X wrote, “Trump forcing everyone else to arrive two hours early just so he can attend is going to suck all the energy out of the Garden and kill our home court advantage, and I’m not kidding.”
“He should stay away. No one wants him there,” another added.
To add insult to injury, the Knicks announced that all watch parties outside of MSG will be canceled for Monday’s game — just days after Friday’s watch party outside the venue drew about 6,500 fans and saw 17 people arrested, according to the New York Police Department.
“Why does Donald Trump always have to ruin a good thing?” U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York pondered to CNN about the decision to cancel the watch parties. “The Knicks haven’t been in the NBA finals for 27 years. The city is trying to celebrate this. We’ve embraced this team, and this guy has to inject himself.”
Jimmy Kimmel joined in on calling out Trump for attending the game during his Friday night broadcast. “The president wants to be there to support his hometown team, and, if necessary, to overturn the results of the game,” he quipped, referring to Trump’s calls to overturn the 2020 election results after Joe Biden was declared winner.
Trump, for his part, defended his plan to attend Game 3 after he was asked his response to most Americans being unable to afford the $8,000 tickets.
“They can watch it on television. It’s sort of semi-free to watch it on television,” Trump said. “That’s the way life goes.”
“If the team wasn’t a big success, you could go very easily,” he said.
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