President Trump indicated Wednesday he plans to go to one of the upcoming NBA Finals games at Madison Square Garden after his hometown New York Knicks made the championship series for the first time since 1999.
“I was invited to. I was going to go on Wednesday [Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals], but they closed it out very quickly. They’re great, and Jim Dolan’s a great guy — he’s as you know, owns and in charge of Madison Square Garden. He’s having a good year,” Trump told The Post during a cabinet meeting.
“Boy, what a team! They win all their games,” the president added. “They really have some great players. I think I’ll be going to one of the games, yeah. I was invited by numerous people, and Jim, and I think it’s great. Great to see it. The Knicks have really, they’ve really suffered for years and they’re doing right now very well.”
As Trump spoke, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — a Long Island native and major Knicks fan — pumped his first repeatedly as the rest of the cabinet chuckled at his enthusiasm.
The Knicks last won the NBA title in 1973, one month before Trump, now 79, turned 27 years old.
New York swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in four straight games to make the Finals, precluding Trump’s attendance at the World’s Most Famous Arena Wednesday night.
MSG CEO James Dolan, who owns both the Knicks and the arena’s other primary tenant, the NHL’s New York Rangers, is a longtime friend of Trump — even getting married at Mar-a-Lago in January 2002.
“I support him as a friend,” Dolan told ESPN.com of Trump in a December 2018 interview. “And you don’t have to agree with everything that he’s doing in order to support him. And he’s, by the way, our president, and I don’t understand people who wish our president to do badly. Why would you wish your president to do badly? It’s like wishing that your milkman will bring you sour milk.”
Trump would be the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game after he became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl in January 2025.
Due to security considerations, the president is unlikely to be seated courtside on “Celebrity Row,” where the regulars include actors Timothee Chalamet and Ben Stiller, comedian Tracy Morgan, director Spike Lee, and “Law & Order” star Mariska Hargitay.
The Knicks will host the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs for Games 3 and 4 of the Finals on Monday, June 8, and Wednesday, June 10. Game 6, if necessary, will take place at MSG June 16, when Trump is due to be in France for the G7 summit.
The day before Trump is due to depart for Europe, he is expected to take in a special UFC card on the White House South Lawn to mark America’s 250th birthday.
