President to Attend Knicks Game 3 at Madison Square Garden

The president plans to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on June 8. The president, a native New Yorker and self-described Knicks fan, said he was invited by the team's owner, James Dolan, who has donated to the president's political campaigns.

Law enforcement has been meeting and working on heightened security for the event, according to one law enforcement source. The arena sits above Penn Station, a major transit hub in Midtown Manhattan. The mayor of New York City also plans to attend Game 3, according to the New York Post.

He said that if he does, he will not be sitting with the president. "I can tell you that I'm planning to go to a Knicks game," the mayor said Thursday at an event about transit during the World Cup. " "What's really so special about sports in our society — and it's a little bit of a cliché — but our increasingly divided society — and that goes to people who will be attending the first home game at Madison Square Garden — it truly brings people together," the mayor said.

The president has attended numerous big sporting events throughout the second term at the White House, from the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans to this year's College Football Playoff National Championship game in Miami. Former President Barack Obama was the last sitting president to attend an NBA game, when he saw his hometown Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015.

The president told reporters in May that he planned to attend Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. But there was no Game 5 because the Knicks swept the series in four games. "[Dolan's] entitled to a good team because he's suffered a little bit," the president said in a May New York City radio interview, referencing the Knicks' lousy record in recent decades.