Stephen A Smith begs Trump not to attend NBA Finals Game 3 at MSG: “I don’t want him there”
Stephen A. Smith would like the public to know that he does not want President Donald Trump to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.
“He’s coming to Game 3 of the Finals, and I don’t want him there,” Smith said without being asked on his radio station while discussing the president’s plans to attend the Knicks-Spurs game on Monday night.
“It has nothing to do with politics, policy, or anything like that. It has everything to do with him disrupting and contributing at the same time to the chaos that is going to happen in Madison Square Garden. If Barack Obama came to the Garden, I would say, ‘Stay home.’ Stay in the White House.”
Stephen A. Smith attends a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 6, 2025. (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
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On Wednesday, OutKick confirmed with a source familiar with the plans that Trump is expected to attend Game 3.
“I think I’m going to one of the games,” Trump said last week when asked about the Knicks’ playoff run.
Trump also said he planned to go to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals before New York wrapped up the series early with a four-game sweep of Cleveland.
Monday night is set to be the biggest night in New York Knicks history. The franchise will host an NBA Finals game for the first time in 27 years.
Although initially underdogs against the Spurs, the Knicks have won 12 straight playoff games and currently lead the series 1-0. New York hasn’t lost a game since, wait for it, April 23rd.
Fans react to the viewing party inside Madison Square Garden in New York City during Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs on June 3, 2026. The Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, seeking their first championship since 1973. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
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According to Smith, New York City will be busy enough without Trump.
“You never know what Monday is going to be like in New York City,” Smith said. “The subways can’t be overcrowded. Don’t drive your cars to Midtown. It’s going to be a parking lot. There’s no madness coming from all the people on Monday. You don’t understand. I’ve been writing sports for over 30 years.
“And I’m telling you right now, come Monday, Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, I expect to see a place I’ve never seen in my entire career covering sports.”
As important as Smith believes he is, he doesn’t expect his bid to change Trump’s plans.
Notably, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sees Trump’s presence as a positive.
“We’re seeing that in New York, and I think President Trump is a New Yorker, and I’m very happy that another New Yorker wants to participate in the excitement and joy of this Knicks team,” Silver said this week.
President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)
We suspect that other media will complain about Trump attending the game. Perhaps former MSNBC anchor Joy Reid will drop her Knicks endorsements, as she said she did with the New York Giants after quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced the president on stage last month.
For us, this is easy. There is nothing political about the president going to a basketball game. And there is nothing political about joining or shaking the president’s hand. The idea that welcoming Trump to a game or stage constitutes a party statement is flawed. In fact, holding that view is a side effect.
And no, we don’t believe Smith when he says his opposition to Trump attending the game has nothing to do with politics. This seems to be another example of Smith loving his audience, as he often does.
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As for how Knicks fans feel about Trump coming to the game, OutKick asked them about it on the streets of New York City this week:
“It’s exciting to see,” Trump said of the team’s run. “The Knicks have really suffered for years.”
