NBA commissioner Adam Silver and New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani might have no issue with Donald Trump attending Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but Stephen A. Smith is begging the president to stay away.
With the New York Knicks looking to end their 53-year championship drought while playing in their first NBA Finals in more than a quarter-century, Trump has confirmed he’s been invited to attend Game 3 at Madison Square Garden and maybe even Game 4. If Trump does indeed show up at the Garden as planned Monday night, he’ll be the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals.
“He’s coming to Game 3 of the Finals, and I don’t want him there,” Smith ranted on his Thursday afternoon Mad Dog Sports Radio show on SiriusXM. “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. If it were Barack Obama coming to the Garden, I would say, ‘Stay home.’ Stay at the White House.”
“You don’t understand what Monday is going to be like in New York City,” Smith continued. “The subways will never be more packed. Don’t drive your cars in Midtown. It will be a parking lot. There is nothing short of madness that is coming the way of everybody come Monday. You don’t understand! I have been covering sports for over 30 years. And I’m telling you right now, come Monday, for Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, I expect to see an environment I have never seen in my entire career covering sports.”
New York has hosted the Super Bowl, World Series, and Stanley Cup Final in recent decades. But the city rallies around the Knicks differently than they do any other team. When it comes to the Mets and Yankees, Jets and Giants, or even the Rangers and Islanders, there is a divide in New York. But even with the Brooklyn Nets playing in a different borough, New York remains mostly loyal to the Knicks.
“This is why I don’t want the president there,” Smith said. “I don’t want people preoccupied with politics and policy, nor do I want him blocking traffic and making it hell for people to enter the freaking arena. I don’t want that problem.”
Smith did [credit Trump’s fandom](https://awfulannouncing.com/politics/stephen-a-smith-sports-media-donald-trump.html) [as legitimate](https://awfulannouncing.com/politics/stephen-a-smith-sports-media-donald-trump.html), noting he used to sit courtside for Knicks games fairly frequently before entering politics. Many Knicks fans don’t trust Smith’s fandom, so his attempt to say Trump is one of them might not work.
Regardless of what Smith wants, it seems Trump will be at the Garden for the NBA Finals. Which is interesting considering Trump was highly critical of the NBA and its social initiatives during his first presidency. But while conservative media likes to condemn the NBA and New York City, they’ll have to cope with Trump seeking to celebrate both.