No watch parties, huge lines and entire blocks on lockdown: How Trump’s NBA Finals attendance is set to wreak havoc… as Knicks fans BEG president not to attend

Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday – and his appearance is already sending New York into security overdrive.

Trump, who was invited by Knicks owner James Dolan, has described himself as a ‘big fan’ of the team, who lead their series against the San Antonio Spurs 2-0.

But not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat for the President, with some fans taking to social media to beg the president to stay home, fearing his attendance will turn one of the greatest nights in recent Knicks history into a security nightmare.

Hundreds of US Secret Service officers and agents will be deployed at the Garden on Monday, joined by thousands of NYPD personnel in what law enforcement sources are calling a ‘heightened security posture’ unlike anything seen at an NBA game.

A hard closure is expected around the entirety of Madison Square Garden – one of the busiest corners of Midtown Manhattan – with entire city blocks effectively placed under lockdown for the duration of the event.

The Seventh and Eighth Avenue corridors surrounding the arena are expected to be shut down, cutting off key sections in one of the most congested parts of the city.

There will be no watch parties outside MSG either. Thousands of fans attended outdoor watch parties for Games 1 and 2, but those scenes will not be replicated on Monday, officials have confirmed.

No vehicle access and no pedestrian travel will be permitted through the secured perimeter, a sweeping restriction that will affect not just fans but anyone trying to get around that part of Manhattan on a Monday evening.

Only ticketed fans will be allowed anywhere near the building, and even they will face screening more akin to airport security than a typical night at the Garden.

No bags will be permitted inside – not purses, not backpacks, not totes of any size. 

Fans have been warned in no uncertain terms to leave everything at home or face being turned away at the checkpoint.

Security checkpoints are expected to open at 6:30pm, a full two hours before the scheduled 8:30pm tipoff. Officials are urging fans to arrive early to avoid being stuck in what could be some of the longest queues in MSG history.

‘It’s the first president that’s ever come in to go to a basketball playoff game,’ former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Rich Esposito told CBS New York. 

‘The Garden is gonna have 50,000 fans, now you’ve got a presidential motorcade coming in, streets sealed off.’

Penn Station, which sits directly beneath the arena and is the nation’s busiest train station, is expected to remain open – though getting to and from it through a security perimeter of that scale will be a challenge in itself.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed he will also be attending Game 3 but said that he will be sitting ‘in a very different section of the stadium’ from the president.

Trump will be the first sitting president to attend an NBA game since Barack Obama watched the 2015 season opener between his hometown Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers over a decade ago.

The security operation reflects the heightened threat environment around the president, who survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign and faced an alleged third attempt at last month’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.