President Trump reportedly at Madison Square Garden after getting roundly booed by Knicks fans before Monday nightap deflating Game 3 loss.
The president has “scheduling conflicts and obligations” that will on Wednesday as the Knicks seek to extend their 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series against the San Antonio Spurs, on Tuesday.
Trump brushed off the boo birds who when he was shown on video screens during the singing of the National Anthem as he became the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game.
“It was, I think, mostly cheers,” he told reporters after the game before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington. “It was loud, and it was very enthusiastic.”
Trump also at times as he sat in a luxury sky box alongside Knicks owner James Dolan and several cabinet officials and political allies.
The announcement that Trump on Wednesday will be greeted by sighs of relief from Knicks fans who had to wait in hours-long security checkpoint lines to get inside the arena.
A planned watch party outside MSG also was related to Trump’s attendance.
Itap not yet known if the , although officials were hopeful they can give the green light.
“We are looking forward to bringing back watch parties for Game 4,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Monday, before Trump’s arrival.
The Knicks had and were only the third team in NBA history to win the first two games of a Finals series on the road.
But with Trump in the house, they and lost 115-111.
Besides the president, Mayor Mamdani, Spike Lee and a raft of A-list celebrities were , as were Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning of the Giants.
With the Knicks’ last championship coming in 1973, long before Mamdani was born, title-starved fans to never-before-seen levels. The get-in price for a ticket soared to more than $5,000, higher than the average monthly rent in New York.
After Game 4, the series will shift back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday. Then it will return for Game 6 on Tuesday at MSG, if the Knicks haven’t wrapped things up by then.
Some critics of Trump blamed his appearance for undermining the unity of fans at the Garden and contributing to the loss.
“Trump curse,” as he trudged out after the loss.
Even before the game, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith had predicted Trump would disrupt the energy at the Garden. He said the loss
“The president disrupted our mojo,” Smith said Tuesday on his show. “I’ve said this on many occasions over the last 24 hours and I am saying it again: The man messed things up.”
Trump countered by lashing out at Smith as “low IQ.”
