Donald Trump hates the NBA, but he loves attention. This has manifested itself by creating hell at Madison Square Garden for thousands of basketball fans in order to get some camera time, with Trump set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York City on Monday night.
Knicks owner James Dolan, noted Trump supporter and shitty musician, invited the president to attend Game 3 of the Finals at Madison Square Garden. In doing so he’s displaced thousands of die-hard fans who love the NBA, and have supported the Knicks in spite of Dolan’s horrible ownership tenure.
With ticket prices soaring into the tens of thousands of dollars, one of the most popular events for Knicks fans have been watch parties outside Madison Square Garden. Those have been cancelled by the NYPD and Secret Service for Monday, citing security concerns with the president in attendance. In addition, fans who are actually attending the game will go through more rigorous “TSA-style” security screenings, which have resulted in fans being told to arrive two hours before tip-off, transforming the sporting event into an airport security line. That’s not all, as a ban on all bags is in effect as well — which includes clear bags typically allowed into NBA arenas. It’s unclear if the bag ban will also impact medication and childcare needs, which are typically allowed.
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has made alternate plans in response to the MSG watch ban, announcing a 5,000 person watch party in Manhattan’s Bryant Park, some eight blocks away from the arena. It’s a nice gesture to make up for some of the ban, but won’t nearly accommodate the number of fans who would have been outside the arena had Trump not attended the game. It’s estimated that 10,000 fans were in attendance for the watch party on West 33rd Street for Game 1, with the Eastern Conference Finals topping 6,000 fans.
All of this was unnecessary. Dolan chose to invite President Trump, which is his prerogative — but in doing so, he actively alienated the lifeblood of his organization: die-hard fans who have supported the Knicks, warts and all, over the 20-year NBA Finals drought. These are people who bleed blue and orange, who have been priced out of being inside the arena so the exceedingly wealthy can buy tickets. Now they’re being pushed back from being in close proximity to the arena, in service of a vanity appearance from a president who knowingly hates the NBA and its players.
