The New York Knicks are hosting the San Antonio Spurs for Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight, and Madison Square Garden is ready to manage the crowd flooding into the arena hours before the game.
As U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed he would be in attendance, several voices across the league were very unhappy with this decision, as it caused issues for the general public due to the security measures announced after the news.
And not just the fans, who paid several thousand dollars to attend the game, but also the arena staff members, media members, team members, and even the players were all subject to strict security checks before entering Madison Square Garden.
De’Aaron Fox, the Spurs’ veteran point guard, voiced his concerns with the aftermath of President Trump’s decision, admitting that it made things inconvenient for not just the Knicks’ fans but everyone who is expected to be at Madison Square Garden tonight. Fox spoke to the media scrum courtside before the game, where he addressed what he expects from the Knicks’ fans tonight.
“It’s New York, regardless of who’s here, you know it’s going to be loud and rowdy. I think the President being here makes it inconvenient for everybody else,” Fox said candidly.
“We’ve got more security, we’ve got to send stuff early, I think our buses were early, so that’s that. If you come here and you play against this team, regardless of whether they are good or not, it’s going to be a building that comes ready to support the team.”
“Obviously, they were like, the less stuff you bring, the better. And obviously it’s a little inconvenient for the people that have got to play, but it is what it is,” Fox concluded.
The Knicks announced extraordinary security measures, which later extended to banning the watch party outside Madison Square Garden for Game 3.
This sudden change in the security measures disallows a truly loyal Knicks fan from expressing his support for his team outside their iconic home arena after waiting for years for this moment. Even players like Victor Wembanyama were subject to checks outside the Garden.
Even Victor Wembanyama isn’t exempt from security checks tonight. 👀
(h/t @lequipe ) pic.twitter.com/wYgpcxwv49
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 8, 2026
ESPN’s senior NBA insider, Shams Charania, later offered insight into the security measures being deployed at Madison Square Garden, revealing that he was stopped by the Secret Service from searching for his fallen AirPod on the street.
“A White House official tells me that President Donald Trump will be sitting in a suite tonight at Madison Square Garden. So, he’s opting not to sit courtside. This is the first time a sitting president will be attending an NBA Finals game ever,” said Charania while reporting for ESPN’s NBA Today.
“And that comes with like Shumpert and like you just mentioned, heightened security, heightened protocols all across Madison Square Garden, about five blocks in all of my directions, these areas will be closed off after 4:00 p.m. And there’s going to be a TSA-style check-in for fans attending the game at least 2 hours before having to check in, as well as not being able to bring bags into the arena.”
“All watch parties outside of Madison Square Garden have been cancelled. So, the Knicks and Spurs have been handling things a little differently. The Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns, and OG Anunoby have been deflecting Donald Trump’s presence here, saying that they’re just focused on basketball.”
“De’Aaron Fox admitted today that it is no doubt an inconvenience for the players in the game. And I personally, I was actually stopped by the Secret Service just right over there cause my AirPod fell.”
“And Secret Service came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Secret Service, you’re going to have to get out of the intersection!’ So, I had to get out. After this, I’m going to go look for my AirPod case,” Charania concluded.
So, not just fans or the media, but even the players are facing an unusual level of infringement of their personal space, just because the President decided to accept the invitation for Game 3.
As Charania pointed out, Trump made a wise choice of sitting in the suite instead of courtside. Or he would be subject to a lot more scrutiny and may have even made the news on a courtside collision or interaction with players.
However, he wants to emphasize that the focus tonight is the players, and not him. So he’s just watching like a fan and probably does not want to draw that much attention to himself.
Should President Trump have decided against coming to the game at all? Doesn’t he have the right, just like the general population, to support the team he loves? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
