n.b.a. fINALS<\/p>\n
In any venue, President Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City might dominate the spotlight, especially if the two happened to be at the same place at the same time.<\/p>\n
But on Monday, the two heavyweights from New York will be side attractions at best, watching with the rest of a sold-out Madison Square Garden as the city\u2019s prevailing megastars \u2014 the Knicks \u2014 return for Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s success has transformed the energy of the city<\/a>, whipping it into an irrepressible froth of orange and blue excitement, with each game at the Garden becoming a magnet for celebrities, political leaders and mega-fans \u2014 both inside and outside the arena.<\/p>\n The frenzy, combined with the president\u2019s appearance, has caused authorities to make some allowances. The arena will have a no-bag policy<\/a>; attendees should arrive two hours early to get through security in time to be seated by tipoff; and the watch party just outside the arena has been canceled<\/a>.<\/p>\n But for Knicks fans \u2014 whose team has won 13 games in a row, the last four on the road \u2014 having a championship in reach for the first time in more than a half-century transcends those annoyances.<\/p>\n Monday will also be a homecoming of sorts for Mr. Trump, a native New Yorker whose last center-stage appearance at the Garden was a crass reminder of his political and cultural impact<\/a>, shortly before he won the 2024 presidential election. He would return weeks later as president-elect, attending an Ultimate Fighting Championship<\/a> event accompanied by Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among others. The crowds at both events greeted Mr. Trump like a hero; Knicks fans are unlikely to greet him as warmly.<\/p>\n As president-elect, Donald Trump went to Madison Square Garden for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, accompanied by Elon Musk and others.Credit…Al Drago for The New York Times<\/p>\n Despite his differences with the president, Mr. Mamdani has shown a willingness to cultivate Mr. Trump\u2019s capricious good will and seemed game to play the gracious host.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited to welcome anyone and everyone who\u2019s rooting for the Knicks in this moment,\u201d Mr. Mamdani said<\/a> during a Friday radio interview, referring to a president he has, in other contexts, called<\/a> a \u201cdespot\u201d and an embodiment of \u201cthe culture of corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Trump and Mr. Mamdani each rose to power as on-screen main characters. But the opportunity to assess them as bystanders \u2014 or by-sitters, as they may be on Monday \u2014 is rare. Mr. Trump comes to the Garden with his ratings at a second-term low<\/a>, contending with a hard-to-quell war of his own making and a potentially restive base<\/a>. He is expected<\/a> to sit in a suite, in keeping with his longstanding desire to project inordinate wealth.<\/p>\n Mr. Mamdani, who took office in January, has won international adulation as a darling of the global left, even as he has endured a crash course<\/a> in governing the country\u2019s largest city. In keeping with his consistent effort to portray himself as an ally of the working class, he is expected to sit in a vastly inferior seat (albeit one that still costs thousands of dollars on the secondary market).<\/p>\n Joe Calvello, a spokesman for Mr. Mamdani, said the mayor was paying his own way, but declined to say how much his ticket cost. A spokeswoman for Madison Square Garden referred questions about the president\u2019s ticket to the White House, which declined to comment.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump, when asked about the exorbitant ticket prices, suggested that Knicks fans were victims of the team\u2019s success. He offered a cheaper solution.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can watch it on television,\u201d the president said on Friday to reporters aboard Air Force One. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of semi-free to watch it on television. That\u2019s the way life goes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow, if the game wasn\u2019t a big \u2014 if the team wasn\u2019t a big success,\u201d he added, \u201cyou could go very easily, so, you know, you could do that too, but that\u2019s the way life is.\u201d<\/p>\n The presence of the mayor and the president is a boon to the N.B.A., already experiencing soaring ratings<\/a>, but a headache for the Garden, which will have to bear the weight of the additional security entailed by the presence of two high-profile politicians. The Secret Service will secure arrangements for Mr. Trump, while Mr. Mamdani will be guarded by his Police Department detail.<\/p>\n Matt McCool, the top U.S. Secret Service agent in New York, is overseeing security for Mr. Trump\u2019s attendance at Game 3 and said his agency would coordinate closely with the Police Department.<\/p>\n He said there would be a number of road closures for the president\u2019s arrival and throngs of agents and police officers at the game. Garbage trucks will block off streets to discourage people from driving to the Garden.<\/p>\n Mr. McCool said that as a former high school basketball coach and college basketball player, he shared the city\u2019s enthusiasm. \u201cWe\u2019re in the Mecca of basketball here in New York,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think Monday night \u2014 people are going be very, very excited.\u201d<\/p>\n President Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City have maintained a texting relationship.Credit…Eric Lee for The New York Times<\/p>\n The president and the mayor will come to watch a hometown team none of whose players easily fits the celebrity mold into which Mr. Trump and Mr. Mamdani slot so readily.<\/p>\n In a sport where teams often try to lure multiple big-name, ball-hogging superstars, the Knicks stand apart in their unusual collectivity. Their leader is Jalen Brunson, the model of the strong, silent type that Tony Soprano once lamented was going extinct<\/a>. Their soul is Josh Hart, a 6-foot-4 rebounding machine who justifies his place in the starting lineup through pure willpower. And their heart is Karl-Anthony Towns, who spoke about his experience in Game 1 in San Antonio with the joy and candor of youth.<\/a><\/p>\n Mr. Mamdani, only four years older than Mr. Towns, is not a lifelong Knicks die-hard<\/a> and until very recently, had sometimes seemed to hold the team at an arm\u2019s length. After the Knicks won the Eastern Conference finals last month, he acknowledged fans\u2019 ardor as someone standing somewhat apart from it.<\/p>\n \u201cKnicks fans are incredibly excited \u2014 as we all should be,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is an incredible moment for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent weeks, Mr. Mamdani has incorporated Knicks fandom into his political messaging.Credit…Jonah Markowitz for The New York Times<\/p>\n But in the past week, he has incorporated Knicks fandom into nearly every facet of his political messaging.<\/p>\n During a Thursday Twitch appearance<\/a>, where the mayor took questions from viewers, Mr. Mamdani sat in front of a Brunson jersey and wore a Knicks pin on his lapel. Last Monday, in a social media stunt<\/a> that has since been viewed more than 14 million times on X, he signed an \u201cexecutive order\u201d repealing children\u2019s bedtimes during the N.B.A. finals, while surrounded by children.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, he watched<\/a> Game 1 of the finals in Upper Manhattan with Darializa Avila Chevalier, his chosen candidate in a Democratic primary against the incumbent, Representative Adriano Espaillat. During the postgame broadcast, he appeared in a 30-second spot<\/a> alongside Ms. Chevalier and two other candidates he has endorsed. After the game<\/a>, Mr. Mamdani drove by the Garden to greet fans attending a watch party that he had permitted to go forward<\/a> despite the Police Department\u2019s objections, which has led to more than 30 people<\/a> being taken into custody over the course of the series\u2019 first two games.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump is a fan of sorts. He frequently appeared on Celebrity Row at the Garden in his New York heyday. But when he has discussed the team in recent weeks, he has for the most part gravitated toward one name \u2014 not Brunson, Hart, or KAT, but James Dolan, the team\u2019s famously unpopular owner, who Mr. Trump describes as \u201cnice\u201d and said had invited him to the finals.<\/p>\n