U.S. President Donald Trump became the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game on Monday, but the outcome wasn’t the one he’d have wanted. Trump is a New York Knicks fan and witnessed the San Antonio Spurs beat them 115-111 in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden.
Trump’s decision to attend this game hadn’t gone too well among some New Yorkers, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was one of them. Earlier in the day, Smith said the 79-year-old had no business coming to the game and also shared he would blame the president if the team lost.
So, after the Spurs’ victory, Trump was informed about those comments made by Smith (who once expressed interest in running for president) and asked how he’d respond to them.
“I think he’s a nice guy, but you need a certain aptitude to run for president,” Trump said. “You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does actually.”
Reporter: Stephen A. Smith said he would blame you if the Knicks lost tonight how do you respond
Donald Trump: I think he’s a nice guy but you need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ, I don’t really think Stephen A Smith has that
LLLMMFFAAOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/8nodMdflUh
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) June 9, 2026
That was brutal. Some would definitely feel there was a racial undertone here as well. Smith has never been one to shy away from a war of words, and he’s likely to fire back strongly at Trump at some point later today. He did make it clear on Instagram after the game that he is blaming the president for the loss.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Smith said. “I told y’all Trump would mess everything up. It’s his fault. It’s his fault. Yeah, Jalen Brunson didn’t pass the ball. He shot twice as much as everybody else. OG Anunoby had 28 points on 13 shots. Jalen Brunson had 32 points on 25 shots. It was like he was trying to win MVP. It’s not how they played the first two games.
“But it’s all about Trump,” Smith continued. “Trump ruined this. President Donald Trump showed up here and disrupted the vibe, disrupted the momentum, disrupted everything. And the New York Knicks faltered because of it. It’s all his fault. That’s all I have to say.”
Trump’s decision to show up certainly caused a bit of a disruption. Additional security measures were put in place by MSG and the United States Secret Service for Game 3. Watch parties were also banned outside the arena, and fans were not happy.
Trump is already a pretty polarizing figure, and all of this certainly didn’t enhance his reputation. You wondered what kind of reception he’d get in the arena, and it certainly wasn’t a good one. Trump claimed in that video that it was mostly cheers, but Knicks fans loudly booed him. He also appeared to have fallen asleep during the game, which would have added to the fans’ frustrations.
With how things went down on Monday, it would appear unlikely that Trump shows up for Game 4, which tips off at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
