Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Donald Trump expressed an interest in attending one of the New York Knicks upcoming NBA Finals games. As the Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani was asked about his potential visit to his hometown city.
Mayor Mamdani has already been spotted at MSG during the New York Knicks run to their first NBA Finals since 1999, as he was in attendance for Game 2. Instead of using his political capital to sit courtside on “Celebrity Row” alongside the likes of Timothee Chalamet and Spike Lee, Mamdani sat in the nosebleeds and paying face value for his ticket — estimated around $700.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he won’t be seen with President Donald Trump if he does decide to attend one of the Knicks’ NBA Finals games
Asked about Trump potentially attending a Finals game, Mamdani said that while that’s his right, he certainly won’t be linking up with him, despite their surprisingly cordial relationship.
“If the president went to a game, that’s his decision to make,” Mamdani told TMZ. “If I go to the game, I’ll be doing so separately.”
Zohran Mamdani tells @jacob_wass he’d avoid joining Trump at a Knicks finals game 😬 pic.twitter.com/7k4hKa0HRj
— TMZ (@TMZ) May 28, 2026
“We’re feeling great about them. We’re hoping that Spurs and OKC just keep going double OT and then we’re hoping for a rerun of ’99,” Mamdani added.
As for a potential day off from school if the Knicks do emerge victorious, the Mayor said: “We’re looking to do an executive order to let the kids stay up late, but I’ll leave it at that.”
Q: Are you going to the Knicks game?
TRUMP: I was going to go on Wednesday, but they closed it out very quickly. I think I'll be going to one of the games. pic.twitter.com/UvQXxtqzXl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 27, 2026
Trump was unpopular in New York City even before he became a historically divisive politician, leading many to believe the boos he’ll receive would be deafening should he decide to show up at Madison Square Garden.
“The boos will tear a hole in reality,” read one viral tweet.
“We are gonna witness some of the greatest boos of all time lol New York please do not let us down,” a second predicted.
“Oh god yes please. The boos will be epic,” a third added.
“The boos will be generational,” a fourth concurred.
The NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and either the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder — who lead the Western Conference Finals 3-2 entering tonight’s Game 6 — will tip off on Wednesday, June 3 at 8:30 p.m. EST. Given that both the Thunder and Spurs both had better regular season records than the Knicks, the Western Conference winner will have home-court advantage in the Finals.