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‘I don’t want him there’: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith tells Trump to skip NBA Finals game at MSG

June 6, 2026 | | Print Article

ESPN host Stephen A. Smith is not so keen on President Donald Trump attending Game 3 of the NBA Finals this upcoming Monday.

But in remarks made Friday on his podcast, Smith explained that his desire for Trump to skip the game has nothing to do with politics.

“He’s coming to Game 3 of the Finals, and I don’t want him there,” Smith said. “He’s coming to Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and I don’t want him there. 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’s going to be existing at Madison Square Garden. If it were Barack Obama coming to the Garden, I would say, ‘Stay home.’ Stay at the White House,” he added.

Listen:

Continuing his remarks, he stressed that people don’t understand how hectic the situation in New York will be on Monday.

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“You don’t understand what Monday is going to be like in New York City,”he said. “The subways will never be more packed. Don’t drive your cars in Midtown. It will be a parking lot. There is nothing short of madness that is coming the way of everybody come Monday. You don’t understand. I have been covering sports for over 30 years.”

“And I’m telling you right now, come Monday, for Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, I expect to see an environment I have never seen in my entire career covering sports,” he added.

Smith’s pessimism isn’t shared by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who  somewhat naively argued to The Guardian that the president’s attendance could be a unifying moment for America.

“We can emphasize what we have in common, not what pulls us apart,” he said. “We’re seeing that in New York and I think President Trump is very much a New Yorker, and I’m thrilled that yet another New Yorker wants to participate in the enthusiasm and the joy around this Knicks team.”

He also recalled how Trump has long been a Knicks fan.

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“Donald Trump, before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan,” Silver said. “I 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.”

Silver further predicted that most fans will forgive Trump for the traffic nightmare that his visit might produce for New Yorkers.

“I think the fans are very understanding of that,” he said. “I think they recognize that it adds to the bigness of the event.”

He appears to be right:

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Meanwhile, leftists like liberal nutjob Morgan J. Freeman (not to be mistaken with the actor) have written whole screeds about why Trump MUST not attend Monday’s Knicks game.

“Road closures. Security nightmares. Traffic gridlock. Thousands of Knicks fans just want to watch basketball. Donald Trump wants another photo op,” Freeman complained on Substack.

Others, meanwhile, are now taking angry shots at Smith for sticking his nose where they argue it doesn’t belong.

Look (*Language warning):

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Vivek Saxena
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