President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to attend the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs NBA finals game Monday night and may go to Game 4 as well.
The New York native will be at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan alongside a host of Knicks superfans, including the likes of filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Timothee Chalamet. Lee and Chalamet were among the celebrities who attended Game 1 in San Antonio Wednesday night, along with comedian Tracy Morgan and actor Ben Stiller.
When a reporter asked whether Trump would attend a finals game at MSG, he boasted about the Knicks and said he would be at the stadium to watch them.
“I've been a Knicks fan for a long time, and I'm also a Jim Dolan fan. He's a nice guy,” Trump said from the Oval Office Thursday, referring to the owner of the Knicks.
“He's been a long time wanting to win, and he's a competitive guy, and he's got a team that's amazing.”
Trump said Dolan invited him to the finals, adding, “I’m going.”
When asked which game he’d attend, the president said he might go Monday for Game 3 and maybe to Game 4 next Wednesday.
The president commended both NBA teams for their performances at a nail-biting Game 1. The Knicks won the game 105 to 95 after coming back from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter.
“I saw the beginning of the game, and it wasn't looking good [for the Knicks],” Trump said. “I missed the middle because I talk to generals all night long now. But I watched that end of the game, and they were dominant.”
Trump called Spurs Forward Victor Wembanyama “a great player.”
“How do you guard this guy? Seven-foot-five, and he's got a great shot, right? But they find a way to do it,” Trump added.
Wembanyama towered over his competitors on Wednesday, but it didn’t stop the Knicks from squeaking out a victory.
Trump has a penchant for attending live sports, even with the beefed-up security needed to attend such games.
He became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl in February and went to a New York Yankees versus Detroit Tigers game last year while marking the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
It’s unclear what type of welcome Trump will get at MSG.
He has a net approval rating of -25 percent, a new low for the president, according to a new The Economist/YouGov poll. New York is also a Democratic stronghold, which does not do any favors for the Republican president.
Game 2 will take place in San Antonio again on Friday before the teams head to New York.
Manhattan has been surging with energy this playoff season as the Knicks won their way to the finals for the first time in 27 years. This year will be a rematch between the Knicks and the Spurs, who went head-to-head in 1999, when San Antonio won the championship.
