TITLE: Trump Says He Will Attend NBA Finals Game at Madison Square Garden
SLUG: trump-to-attend-nba-finals-at-madison-square-garden
CONTENT:
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he plans to be in the crowd for one of next month’s NBA Finals games at Madison Square Garden.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Trump said New York Knicks owner James Dolan extended the invitation, along with “numerous people.” The appearance would mark the first time a sitting U.S. president has attended an NBA Finals matchup.
Trump has made several high–profile sports stops during his term, including Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans last year and this season’s College Football Playoff National Championship in Miami.
Knicks’ historic run
New York secured its Finals berth Monday by completing a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals. The victory pushed the Knicks’ postseason winning streak to 11, during which they have outscored opponents by 262 points—the most dominant 11-game stretch in league history, regular season or playoffs.
Only three other franchises—the Los Angeles Lakers in 1989 and 2001, and the Golden State Warriors in 2017—have reached the Finals with postseason streaks of at least 11 consecutive wins.
Trump originally planned to attend a potential Game 5 against Cleveland, but the sweep canceled those arrangements. “They closed it out very quickly,” he told reporters. “Boy, what a team—they’ve won all their games.”
Finals schedule
The Knicks, appearing in the championship series for the first time since 1999, will face either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs. Game 1 is set for June 3 in the Western Conference champion’s arena, with Game 2 on June 5 at the same site. Madison Square Garden will host Game 3 on June 8 and Game 4 on June 10.
Source: ESPN
