{"id":715597,"date":"2026-06-05T00:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T00:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/715597\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T00:14:09","slug":"trump-says-he-will-attend-nba-finals-game-in-new-york-to-root-for-his-hometown-knicks-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/715597\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says he will attend NBA Finals game in New York to root for his hometown Knicks \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump, a longtime New York Knicks fan, said he plans to attend an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden next week at the invitation of the team\u2019s owner.<\/p>\n

Describing himself as a \u201cbig fan\u201d of the team and owner James Dolan, Trump said Thursday that he will be in the arena for at least one game next week. The NBA believes it would make him the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer is yes \u2014 he\u2019s invited me, I\u2019m going,\u201d Trump said of Dolan\u2019s invitation. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was eyeing Game 3 on Monday but didn\u2019t rule out Game 4 on Wednesday. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll do both.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNew York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) greets guard Mikal Bridges (25) during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the San Antonio Spurs, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n

Trump, who is simultaneously contending with a war in Iran, strife in Congress and looming midterm elections, said he made sure to catch some of Game 1 on Wednesday as the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI missed the middle because I talk to generals all night long now, but I watched that end of the game and they were dominant,\u201d Trump said. \u201cReally amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his plans for next week, Trump went on to offer his own game recap, giving nothing but praise for the Knicks. Taking questions after an event on his administration\u2019s efforts to promote the U.S. coal industry, Trump said it \u201cwasn\u2019t looking good\u201d for the Knicks early on but commended them for holding back Victor Wembanyama, the towering Spurs center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say, how do you guard this guy? He\u2019s 7-foot-5 and he\u2019s got a great shot, right? But they find a way to do it. They\u2019re really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NBA said it believes no other sitting president has attended an NBA Finals game. Earlier Thursday, Commissioner Adam Silver said some former presidents had attended. He recalled Trump as a Knicks fan long before his political career.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump, before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan,\u201d Silver said. \u201cI was there at many Knicks games with him in the old days. He attended many of our drafts when they used to take place at Madison Square Garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silver reiterated a message he conveyed Wednesday amid reports that Trump might attend \u2014 that sports can be unifying, even in deeply divided political times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can emphasize what we have in common, not what pulls us apart,\u201d Silver said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing that in New York and I think President Trump is very much a New Yorker, and I\u2019m thrilled that yet another New Yorker wants to participate in the enthusiasm and the joy around this Knick team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commissioner acknowledged that Trump\u2019s presence will require extra security in and around Madison Square Garden. That would almost certainly mean longer transit times and logistical issues for fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the fans are very understanding of that,\u201d Silver said. \u201cI think they recognize that it adds to the bigness of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in San Antonio contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump, a longtime New York Knicks fan, said he plans to attend an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-715597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}