Trump crashes the NBA Finals and creates chaos at Madison Square Garden
’Nova Knick Josh Hart has been a critic of Trump. You'd have to wonder what he thinks about the spectacle of the president at Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
NEW YORK — There were 66 New York Police Department vehicles and two garbage trucks acting as barriers parked around the corner of 33rd Street and 8th Avenue. Forty-three of the vehicles, including 35 motorcycles, were lined up on 33rd alone.
Both streets were locked down, and it wasn’t because John Turturro was inside Madison Square Garden.
Trump was coming.
President Donald Trump on Monday became the first sitting president to attend an NBA game. He did so in the worst possible setting: the middle of the biggest, most congested city in the United States.
Marcus Hayes alerts
Trump, a native New Yorker, said he was invited by Knicks owner James Dolan. He choppered into the area and took a limo to the arena, but did not sit courtside as planned.
With the best seats auctioning off for more than $500,000 and the worst seats going for more than $6,000, maybe he couldn’t afford it.
During the national anthem, he was shown in a suite, saluting.
The boos were absolutely monumental, long and sustained, drowning out the hearty singer, Avery Wilson, and whatever cheers there might have been.
Knicks guard Josh Hart expressed regret that ticket prices were so high that many long-suffering Knicks fans, whose team last won a title 53 years ago, would have to watch on TV.
“I kind of wish ticket prices weren’t as crazy as they are. I feel like a lot of people have been waiting for this moment for a very long time,” Hart said. “Unfortunately, they’re not able to get into the building with the cheapest ticket $7,000 or $8,000. That’s ridiculous.”
You wondered what, then, Hart thought of Trump and his entourage taking up so much space in the World’s Most Famous Arena. Hart has been a frequent critic of Trump’s, celebrating on X, then known as Twitter, when Trump lost the 2020 election.
Hart has not issued any comment on Trump attending Monday night.
Trump’s presence only amplified what you knew would be a frenetic, eclectic, and electric atmosphere.
There was Spike Lee mugging courtside in a signed Pope Leo jersey. Signed.
Comedian Larry David and Patriots owner Robert Kraft were hugging and texting courtside.
Ben Stiller arrived four hours early, game face on, and was rubbing elbows with Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith, and what seemed like the rest of the ESPN staff that isn’t covering the College World Series.
Jeremy Lin was in a leather Knicks jacket, and, for some reason, was stretching his Achilles tendons backstage. He looked fit. Secret weapon?
Long before tipoff, thousands of folks outside were being misdirected by confused cops for an hour, then standing in lines another 90 minutes to get through security. There didn’t seem to be an empty seat by game time.
New Yorkers knew what was up. They’re used to Trump messing up Manhattan traffic.
ESPN studio host Ernie Johnson, his bow tie undone, was getting wanded by Secret Service as he entered the arena 4½ hours early, then waited among a herd of press types for 20 minutes to be let in 30 minutes early, then waited 15 minutes for the only accessible elevator before they turned on the escalators around the corner.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama went through the same process two hours later.
Both coaches said Trump’s presence and the resulting complications affected neither them nor their teams.
We’ll see.
