President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to attend the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs NBA finals game Monday night and may go to Game 4 as well.
The New York native will be at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan alongside a host of Knicks superfans, including the likes of filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Timothee Chalamet. Lee and Chalamet were among the celebrities who attended Game 1 in San Antonio Wednesday night, along with comedian Tracy Morgan and actor Ben Stiller.
When a reporter asked whether Trump would attend a finals game at MSG, he boasted about the Knicks and said he would be at the stadium to watch them.
“I’ve been a Knicks fan for a long time, and I’m also a Jim Dolan fan. He’s a nice guy,” Trump said from the Oval Office Thursday, referring to the owner of the Knicks.
“He’s been a long time wanting to win, and he’s a competitive guy, and he’s got a team that’s amazing.”
Trump said Dolan invited him to the finals, adding, “I’m going.”
When asked which game he’d attend, the president said he might go Monday for Game 3 and maybe to Game 4 next Wednesday.
The president commended both NBA teams for their performances at a nail-biting Game 1. The Knicks won the game 105 to 95 after coming back from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter.
“I saw the beginning of the game, and it wasn’t looking good [for the Knicks],” Trump said. “I missed the middle because I talk to generals all night long now. But I watched that end of the game, and they were dominant.”
Trump called Spurs Forward Victor Wembanyama “a great player.”
“How do you guard this guy? Seven-foot-five, and he’s got a great shot, right? But they find a way to do it,” Trump added.
Wembanyama towered over his competitors on Wednesday, but it didn’t stop the Knicks from squeaking out a victory.
Trump has a penchant for attending live sports, even with the beefed-up security needed to attend such games.
He became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl in February and went to a New York Yankees versus Detroit Tigers game last year while marking the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
