San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox was among those critical of President Donald Trump’s decision to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday, June 8, pointing out the logistical headaches the presidential visit created for players and fans alike.
“I think the president being here just makes it inconvenient on everybody else,” Fox, 28, told reporters before the game. “We got, obviously, more security. We gotta, like, send stuff early. I think our buses are a little earlier.”
He added, “We’re getting screened like it’s TSA. It’s a little inconvenient for the people that’s got to play, but it is what it is.”
Despite the extra hassle, Madison Square Garden was packed on Monday night as the Spurs got back into the series, defeating the New York Knicks, 115-111, to pull to within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
MSG showed Trump, 79, on the jumbotron during the national anthem, which also came across on ABC’s TV broadcast. Though he seemed to be loudly booed on the broadcast and in multiple videos shared via social media later, Trump insisted the crowd received him positively.
“It was, I think, mostly cheers,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One after the game. “It was loud and it was very enthusiastic.”
In addition to the increased security, Trump’s presence at MSG also prevented Knicks fans from congregating outside the arena for a watch party, which they had been doing all postseason. In response, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Monday that 5,000 Knicks fans would be welcome to watch in Bryant Park, while thousands more flocked to Central Park.
“Of all the selfish, narcissistic things Trump has done, attending MSG to see the Knicks play in person Monday night is the absolute worst,” conservative pundit Ann Coulter wrote via X on Sunday, June 7. “20,000 attendees will be MASSIVELY inconvenienced for all the extra security, the Knicks Watch Party at Garden Is canceled, thousands of extra law enforcement officers will be required (paid for by taxpayers), traffic will be a disaster — all so he can sit in the Garden rather than watch the game on TV.”
But not everyone opposed Trump’s presence. NBA commissioner Adam Silver pointed to the moment as an example of sports bringing together people from different walks of life.
“I found out because Jim Dolan invited him to the game and he said yes,” Silver, 64, explained during ESPN’s Inside the NBA pregame show. “He’s welcome to be here. I think what makes sports so special, especially when there’s so much that divides people, is it’s something that we have in common. We should look for those things that we have in common and build off that.”
Comedian Whoopi Goldberg, who has feuded with Trump multiple times in the past, also defended him on Monday’s episode of The View.
“I think anybody who’s a Knicks fan should be there,” she said. “You earned the right as a Knicks fan. I don’t have to like you.”
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