The New York Knicks are on the precipice of their first NBA title since 1973 and US President Donald Trump wants in.
The Knicks are the toast of the sports world at the moment, after taking a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals, and many fans in the Big Apple and pundits believe 2026 could finally be the year for the long-suffering franchise.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns. AP Photo/Eric Gay
The bandwagon has been getting bigger by the day since their last loss on April 23, with Trump, a native New Yorker, now confirming he will attend game three of the finals at Madison Square Garden.
The frenzy is so palpable that tickets for the upcoming games three and four at Madison Square Garden are approaching Super Bowl-level pricing, with the least expensive ticket worth US$4,000.
Legions of New Yorkers hit the road to San Antonio for game one with blue-and-orange littered among the crowd.
Trump, a native New Yorker, is no stranger to major sporting events. He’s taken in the College Football Playoff championship and caught a prime-time NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets just days before the 2024 election. He’s also been a regular at UFC events for many years.
He told reporters last week that Knicks owner James Dolan invited him to the Finals and that he would have gone to game five of the eastern conference finals — but the Knicks needed only four games to win that series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He called the Knicks’ return to the finals for the first time since 1999 “great to see.”
The NBA said it believes no other sitting president has attended an NBA Finals game. Commissioner Adam Silver said some former presidents had attended but Trump’s attendance will be a first for the league.
The commissioner acknowledged that Trump’s presence will require extra security in and around Madison Square Garden. That would almost certainly mean longer transit times and logistical issues for fans.
“I think the fans are very understanding of that,” Silver said. “I think they recognise that it adds to the bigness of the event.”
The Knicks’ return to prominence is something many diehard fans thought would never come.
President Donald Trump will attend game three. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Fans that had witnessed a Knicks’ title more than 50 years ago are well into their golden years now. Even the team’s last finals appearance in 1999 is a distant memory for most, played during a time when the audience yearned for physicality and showed little love for the three-ball.
Things have changed a lot in that time but there are many old school fans who have remained loyal to the team.
One of note, is filmmaker Spike Lee, who has been embroiled in clashes with rival players from his on-court seat, more than once over the years.
One of the most famous was when Lee felt the wrath of the city when he mercilessly trash-talked Pacers star Reggie Miller in game five of the 1995 eastern conference series.
Filmmaker and actor Spike Lee celebrates after the New York Knicks defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers. Getty Images
Miller famously responded by scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter alone, with Lee finding himself plastered all over the back pages of the city’s newspapers as the man to blame for the loss.
And it’s not only the players, the Knicks season ticket holder had been engaged in a feud with owner James Dolan for some years.
Dolan, a polarising figure in US sports who’s been urged by fans to sell the team he inherited from his billionaire father, might escape the constant booing from fans if the Knicks can win the title.
Dolan has been owner of the team for nearly 30 years, and for much of that time, the team has been anchored to the bottom of the NBA.
During Dolan’s first year at the helm, the team made the finals in 1999, but since then, they’ve made the playoffs only seven times over the next 23 years.
He was dubbed arguably the worst owner in sports in 2019 when the Knicks had the worst record in the NBA.
But it wasn’t just the team’s performance on the court that raised questions about Dolan.
Knicks Owner James Dolan. Getty
He once fired an employee after she reported being sexually harassed by Isiah Thomas, the team’s president of basketball operations from 2003 to 2008. That employee sued the team for millions and Dolan then extended Thomas’ contract.
He banned employees from doing any business with a New York radio station after a host criticised him. A feud with former player, Charles Oakley, led to more criticism.
Dolan had Oakley, a fan favourite who played for the Knicks between 1988-1998, kicked out of a game in 2017
As security guards put hands on Oakley and removed him, fans chanted “Oakley! Oakley!”
Dolan also installed facial-recognition technology at his venues to make sure lawyers who work for companies suing Madison Square Garden Sports, which owns the team, aren’t allowed in.
Dolan reportedly explained that barring the lawyers litigating against his company, for example, protected against improper disclosure and discovery.
But hard feelings for the owner could soften if the Knicks can get over the line.
Jalen Brunson has led the way for the Knicks. nna\smirzabegian
Afterall, Dolan did put the right people in place this time to lead the current run.
The Knicks’ fortunes began to improve when he hired Leon Rose, a high-profile agent, as team president in March 2020. Rose has been credited with enticing his godson and star guard Jalen Brunson to sign with New York, when nobody else really wanted to go there.
Brunson signed a four-year, $US104 million contract not long after his father, one of Rose’s former clients, signed with the team as an assistant coach.
Since then the Knicks have improved each season and made the playoffs every year.
The affordable value of his contract has also given the team options to sign other high calibre players, some of whom won a national championship with Brunson in college.
It all seems to be coming together now.
When the Knicks were awarded the trophy for the eastern conference championship in Cleveland last week, Dolan declined to accept it during the televised celebration, instead calling on Brunson to take it.
He also reportedly made sure that Lee could be part of the Knicks’ eastern conference championship celebration, putting their feud to one side.
The Knicks face the San Antonio Spurs in game two on Saturday morning AEST.