President Trump is considering making an appearance at the N.B.A. finals next week, a rarity for an American leader, after his hometown New York Knicks clinched a championship spot, according to three people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
An appearance by Mr. Trump at Madison Square Garden would be the latest incidence of a high-profile sports event serving as a backdrop for his presidency. Mr. Trump last year showed up at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, the U.S. Open men\u2019s final and a Yankees game. He is currently erecting an octagonal cage on the South Lawn of the White House for an Ultimate Fighting Championship match on his birthday next month. He has maintained friendships with the leaders of sports organizations, including Dana White, the head of the U.F.C., to galvanize support in the \u201cmanosphere.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n If the Knicks had lost Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday, Mr. Trump had planned to make a surprise appearance among the team\u2019s faithful at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, according to three people familiar with the planning. But after the Knicks completed a sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, the president is turning to the N.B.A. championship.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has said in recent weeks that he remains a Knicks fan and has been following the team\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like Jim Dolan a lot, I\u2019m really happy for him and the team,\u201d Mr. Trump said of James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, the New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden, on WABC-AM, known as TalkRadio 77. \u201cI think it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House and a spokesman for Mr. Dolan did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Mr. Dolan has donated to Mr. Trump\u2019s political campaigns over the years, and the two men have a longstanding friendship. In 2018, Mr. Dolan told ESPN that he got married at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump\u2019s private club in Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a member of Mar-a-Lago, and I support him as a friend,\u201d Mr. Dolan said. \u201cAnd you don\u2019t have to agree with everything that he\u2019s doing in order to support him. And he\u2019s, by the way, our president, and I don\u2019t understand people who wish our president to do badly. Why would you wish your president to do badly? It\u2019s like wishing that your milkman will bring you sour milk.\u201d<\/p>\n Other presidents have occasionally attended high-profile sporting events. Former President Barack Obama attended the N.B.A. Finals in Toronto in 2019, although he was out of office by then. But few, if any, presidents have watched bruising fights ringside and embraced politically aligned athletes and sparred on social media with other players as Mr. Trump has.<\/p>\n But even Mr. Trump, a native New Yorker, may encounter a much different experience when attending the next Knicks game.<\/p>\n While he has been embraced by mixed martial arts fighters and some teams in the National Football League, Mr. Trump has had a fraught relationship with the National Basketball Association.<\/p>\n San Francisco\u2019s Golden State Warriors decided not to make the customary White House visit after winning the N.B.A. championship in 2017, prompting Mr. Trump to accuse the N.B.A. star Stephen Curry of \u201chesitating\u201d and to withdraw the team\u2019s invitation. The Warriors were not invited for a visit when they won another championship in 2018, but they did partake in the tradition during the Biden presidency.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump has also publicly criticized other prominent players in the league. He attacked the intelligence of LeBron James in his first term after the N.B.A. champion mentioned in a CNN interview that he would never sit down with Mr. Trump. <\/p>\n The Knicks\u2019 opponent could also feature a Trump critic.<\/p>\n