NEW YORK — Donald Trump once blended in among other famous faces watching courtside action at New York Knicks games. Back then, he was well-known but didn’t travel with Secret Service protection or carry the political baggage that has made him unpopular in the city where he built his reputation.
Following more than ten years away from Madison Square Garden, Trump plans to return to New York City as president to support the Knicks during Game 3 of the NBA Finals versus the San Antonio Spurs on Monday evening. Team owner James Dolan extended the invitation, and Trump will become the first commander-in-chief to witness an NBA Finals matchup in person.
The franchise hasn’t captured a title since 1973, when Trump was 26 years old and just beginning his career in the family property development company that brought him fortune and recognition. Following that victory two years later, the team’s ownership brought him on as an advisor while they considered selling the venue.
Trump has attended more high-profile athletic competitions than previous presidents, from the Super Bowl to the Daytona 500, the Ryder Cup golf tournament in the New York area where crowds welcomed him warmly, and the previous year’s U.S. Open tennis tournament in Queens, where spectators jeered him and criticized lengthy security delays.
This June 14, as he celebrates his 80th birthday amid numerous challenges including the conflict with Iran, financial concerns, and judicial decisions hampering his policies, he plans to host a UFC event at the White House. Trump has also shown interest in attending the World Cup soccer tournament beginning this week throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada.
While Trump enjoys various sports, his connection to the Knicks runs deeper.
This relationship reflects the Republican leader’s New York roots and recalls an earlier time when premium courtside seats offered him and other celebrities opportunities for mutual recognition.
In a metropolis where affluent power brokers typically rejected Trump’s bold demeanor and lifestyle during the 1990s and 2000s, Madison Square Garden’s Celebrity Row provided a welcoming environment.
“I’ve been a Knick fan for a long time,” Trump said to journalists in the Oval Office recently, one day following New York’s comeback victory in Game 1. “I watched that end of the game and they were dominant — really amazing.”
Following Friday’s victory in San Antonio, the Knicks return home leading 2-0 in the best-of-seven championship series. Their impressive 13-game playoff winning streak continues, with their last defeat occurring April 23, bringing the city together in ways not witnessed since the team reached the NBA Finals twice during the 1990s.
Now Trump re-enters the Knicks narrative not as the media sensation who once sat beside the late John F. Kennedy Jr. during a 1999 contest, but as a president whom most of the city’s Democratic residents oppose.
Trump, who changed his permanent residence from New York to Florida in 2019, makes his first New York City visit since addressing the United Nations in September.
However, Knicks supporters appear less worried about his political positions and more concerned that his presence and accompanying spectacle might disrupt the team’s winning streak.
“Why does Donald Trump always have to ruin a good thing?” U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, a devoted Knicks supporter and House Democratic leader, said to CNN. “Like, literally, the Knicks haven’t been in the NBA finals for 27 years. The city is trying to celebrate this. We’ve embraced this team, and this guy has to inject himself.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat who developed a friendly working relationship with Trump following their November meeting, offered a warmer welcome.
“We’re excited to welcome anyone and everyone who’s rooting for the Knicks in this moment,” Mamdani stated, noting he will also attend the game but separately from Trump.
Recently, as Trump considered attending a game, New York magazine released an article titled “Is Trump Really a Knicks Fan? An Investigation.” The piece, featuring photographs of Trump at Knicks contests from 1991 through 2014, characterized him as a “textbook example of a celebrity bandwagon fan.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver disputes this characterization.
“Before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan,” Silver informed reporters recently. “I’ve been with the league for a long time. I was there at many Knicks games with him in the old days.”
Both Trump and the Knicks began in 1946.
His documented association with the franchise started in 1975 when he served as a property consultant for the former owners of the Knicks and Madison Square Garden during their efforts to sell the facility marketed as “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Trump told media outlets then that two “Arab oil interests” groups were considering offers between $50 million and $75 million. However, arena management rejected the proposal, declaring such a transaction “not conceivable” during the ongoing Middle East oil crisis.
Trump remained relatively unknown during the Knicks’ only championship years in 1970 and 1973.
When the team resurged in the 1990s, Trump occupied prominent seats, bringing then-wife Marla Maples to Game 3 of the 1994 NBA Finals and his current spouse, first lady Melania Trump, to Game 2 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals. He also strengthened his Knicks credentials with an appearance in the basketball-themed Whoopi Goldberg movie “Eddie” in 1996.
During that era, Trump represented more of a cultural icon than an influential figure, gaining recognition equally for his romantic relationships and construction projects.
Yet as those Knicks teams fell short in NBA Finals against Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets and David Robinson’s Spurs, Trump faced his own difficulties. His business operations struggled after casino financial problems and the failure of Trump Shuttle airline.
Similar to the Knicks, Trump entered reconstruction phase and pursued different directions: television programming with NBC’s “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” followed by political involvement. During a 2010 Knicks broadcast, he suggested a potential presidential campaign.
That year, while the Knicks worked to reclaim their 1990s success, Trump created a video attempting to convince LeBron James to join the organization.
“The real winners of the world want to be here,” Trump said to him.
