WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has openly trashed the NBA as a bastion of player activism with overt liberal politics that could “destroy” the game of basketball. And he’s deeply unpopular in New York City, with a historically low job approval rating.
So why is he planning to attend Monday’s Game 3 finals matchup between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, the first in Madison Square Garden in 27 years?
To steal a phrase from former President Bill Clinton, “It’s the politics, stupid.”
The game between the Spurs and their 7’4” superstar center/power forward Victor Wembanyama and the Knicks, in their first NBA Finals since 1999, promises to be among the most watched televised NBA games in recent memory.
And while Trump is much more aligned with the pro-MAGA Ultimate Fighting Championship crowd, he’s likely going because it presents him with yet another opportunity to build his brand and be seen by more than 10 million people watching at home, presidential historian Matt Dallek told USA TODAY on June 5.
“He loves attention. He loves eyeballs on him and being at the center of everything,” Dallek said. “And even though he decamped and moved to Florida, he still identifies in many ways as a New Yorker.”
“The Knicks being in the finals for the first time in many decades is a chance for him to kill two birds with one stone,” Dallek said. “He can generate some controversy. He can put all eyes on him, and he can bask in the reflective glory of the New York Knicks, even if he’s getting booed or heckled.”
It was Clinton’s chief strategist, James Carville, who first coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid,” during the 1992 presidential campaign as a catchphrase meaning it’s the primary concern of American voters.
Trump has already attended multiple sporting events in the first 18 months of his second term, analysts say.
That includes numerous golf events and championships, Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, the College Football Playoff National Championship in Miami, the Daytona 500 auto race, the U.S. Open Men’s Final in tennis, the FIFA Club World Cup Final and even the NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Trump is especially fond of attending UFC fight nights and matches with members of his Cabinet and inner circle. An octagon arena is near completion on the South Lawn of the White House for the UFC fight on his birthday.
But Game 3 is likely to be a different, more intimate atmosphere − and a historic one, in that the National Basketball Association believes Trump would be the first-ever president to attend an NBA finals game. Even President Barack Obama, a huge basketball fan, enjoyed a close relationship with the NBA and attended games − but never the NBA finals.
As for the Knicks, Trump did occasionally attend and sit courtside before officially getting into politics in 2015.
Trump has been a frequent critic of the NBA, and players’ social justice protests and embrace of political causes, dating back to at least the summer of 2020.
The friction reached its peak during the 2020 NBA Playoffs in the “Bubble” in Orlando, Florida, when some players temporarily boycotted games following controversial police shootings. Some even wore Black Lives Matter messaging on their jerseys and courts.
In response, Trump criticized players for kneeling during the national anthem and turning the league into a “political organization.” And speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Aug. 28, 2020, he said, “I think what they’re doing to the NBA in particular is gonna destroy basketball.”
Trump has also frequently tied the players’ political involvement to what he said was a sharp decline in NBA television ratings. No NBA champion team has ever visited the Trump White House, unlike winners in other sports. And winning NBA teams were a frequent guest at the Obama White House.
In 2017, Trump tweeted that he was disinviting Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry from the team’s traditional champions’ trip to Washington, after Curry said he’d “vote no” on attending, citing the administration’s divisiveness.
“By acting and not going, hopefully that will inspire some change when it comes to what we tolerate in this country and what is accepted and what we turn a blind eye to,” Curry said at the time.
Ultimately, the entire team did not visit the White House. The next year, Curry and then-Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James publicly said neither team would accept an invite, and Trump announced he wouldn’t invite either team to the White House.
The White House says Trump was invited by MSG CEO James Dolan, a political donor. Trump said he might attend Game 4 as well.
“The answer is: yes, he has invited me and I’m going,” Trump said of Dolan’s invitation when speaking to reporters in the Oval Office June 4. “Could be Monday — maybe I’ll do both.”
“Well, I’ve been a Knick fan for a long time, and I’m also a Jim Dolan fan,” Trump said. “He’s a nice guy, OK? He spent a long time wanting to win, and he’s a competitive guy. He’s got a team that’s amazing.”
It’s hard to predict how crowds will react, but Dallek is not optimistic for Trump.
“Obviously, he’s going into the lion’s den. A large majority of New Yorkers, especially in Manhattan but New Yorkers in general, voted against him, do not like him and think he’s been a bad president by all accounts,” Dallek said.
“And I think that there’ll probably be some fans who will be a little resentful,” Dallek said. “It’s going to be a huge security issue. And I think there’s going to be some fans who would rather the focus be on the Knicks and have him stay away.”
Hollywood director Spike Lee, a prominent Trump critic and die-hard Knicks fan, will be at his usual courtside seat.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver welcomed Trump’s attendance, framing the visit as an opportunity to “emphasize what we have in common, not what pulls us apart,” according to the Guardian.
Calling Trump “very much a New Yorker,” the commissioner also vouched for his longstanding connection to the sport. “Donald Trump, before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan,” Silver said.
The latest approval ratings released for Trump’s administration show that he’s at or near record lows around the country. That’s especially the case in New York state, where Trump’s job approval rating generally tracks in the low 30s.
His approval ratings tend to be even lower, often significantly, given the city’s overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning voter base.
And thanks to supportive conservative media like Fox News, it’s likely that selective edits when airing news clips of Trump’s appearance will spare many viewers from hearing the booing that is likely to come from at least some Knicks fans at the Garden. Such edits have sparked controversy at past sporting events and cultural events like his attendance at the Kennedy Center in April.
The Knicks are upping security for the game in concert with the Secret Service in anticipation of Trump’s attendance.
In a statement, it said “a strict no-bag policy will be in effect, and fans should make every effort to limit personal items to an absolute minimum” — and to get there at least two hours ahead of the 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff time to get through “TSA-style screening procedures.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialists of America member, says he has already bought his own ticket to the game and will be sitting “in a very different section of the stadium.”
The least expensive tickets to Game 3 were listed at more than $7,000 on various ticket resale sites like Vivid Seats and Gametime, NBC 4 New York said June 4.
When a reporter told Trump the average New Yorker can’t afford those prices, Trump said, “They can watch it on television. It’s sort of semi-free to watch it on television. But that’s the way life goes.”
Mamdani has dodged questions whether the two will try to meet at the event. The White House did not respond to a USA TODAY request for comment June 5 about Trump’s intentions for watching the game.
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