{"id":614120,"date":"2026-06-06T14:37:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=614120"},"modified":"2026-06-06T14:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:37:42","slug":"i-dont-want-him-there-espns-stephen-a-smith-tells-trump-to-skip-nba-finals-game-at-msg-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=614120","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t want him there\u2019: ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith tells Trump to skip NBA Finals game at MSG"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s coming to Game 3 of the Finals, and I don\u2019t want him there,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe\u2019s coming to Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and I don\u2019t want him there. It has nothing to do with politics, policy, or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has everything to do with him disrupting and contributing at the same time to the chaos that\u2019s going to be existing at Madison Square Garden. If it were Barack Obama coming to the Garden, I would say, \u2018Stay home.\u2019 Stay at the White House,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Listen:<\/p>\n

\n

Stephen A. Smith begs Donald Trump to stay away from Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s coming to Game three of the Finals, and I don\u2019t want him there. It has nothing to do with politics, policy, or anything like that. It has everything to do with him\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/O3dk7DnQo2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NBA Base (@TheNBABase) June 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Continuing his remarks, he stressed that people don\u2019t understand how hectic the situation in New York will be on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t understand what Monday is going to be like in New York City,\u201dhe said. \u201cThe subways will never be more packed. Don\u2019t 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\u2019t understand. I have been covering sports for over 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s pessimism isn\u2019t shared by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who\u00a0 somewhat naively argued to The Guardian<\/a> that the president\u2019s attendance could be a unifying moment for America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can emphasize what we have in common, not what pulls us apart,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing that in New York and I think President Trump is very much a New Yorker, and I\u2019m thrilled that yet another New Yorker wants to participate in the enthusiasm and the joy around this Knicks team.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also recalled how Trump has long been a Knicks fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump, before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan,\u201d Silver said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silver further predicted that most fans will forgive Trump for the traffic nightmare that his visit might produce for New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the fans are very understanding of that,\u201d he said. \u201cI think they recognize that it adds to the bigness of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

He appears to be right:<\/p>\n

\n

Trump at MSG for Game 3?<\/p>\n

Knicks fans are already fired up. pic.twitter.com\/BjFJYdAuQ1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 OutKick (@Outkick) June 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\u2019s Knicks game.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoad closures. Security nightmares. Traffic gridlock. Thousands of Knicks fans just want to watch basketball. Donald Trump wants another photo op,\u201d Freeman complained<\/a> on Substack.<\/p>\n

Others, meanwhile, are now taking angry shots at Smith for sticking his nose where they argue it doesn\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

Look (*Language warning<\/strong>):<\/p>\n

\n

@stephenasmith<\/a> just an FYI, President Trump does not need your permission to go to a basketball game.<\/p>\n

\u2014 @LuvTX (@LuvTX76) June 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

@stephenasmith<\/a> it\u2019s childish you don\u2019t want Trump to go to Knicks game- grow up. If you don\u2019t want to see him there don\u2019t go yourself.<\/p>\n

\u2014 John Martin (@JPCJMartin) June 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

@stephenasmith<\/a> ballsy to tell Trump not to come to MSG for Game #3. Who in the hell are you to say?
\nCHECK YOURSELF!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Patrick Magee (@RFCATS) June 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Hey .@stephenasmith<\/a> what if Obama was coming to the Nicks game, who that be ok? First of all Trump was born and raised in NEW YORK that is his home First, please stop with the TDS it\u2019s getting old<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lin Lou (@Linnylintruth) June 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

@stephenasmith<\/a>
\nThe American people don\u2019t give a damn that you don\u2019t want Donald J Trump to attend Game 3. Who the fuck do you think you are ? pic.twitter.com\/NIbUlMldds<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Roger Babbs (@babbs8278) June 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. \u201cHe\u2019s coming to Game 3 of the… Continue reading \u2018I don\u2019t want him there\u2019: ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith tells Trump to skip NBA Finals game at MSG<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":614112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-614120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=614120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/614112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=614120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=614120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=614120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}