Saturday Night Live’s biggest Knicks fan blames his team’s NBA Finals game three loss on Donald Trump.
The president was among the crowd at Madison Square Garden, where he witnessed the end of their historic 13-game win streak. It was the second-longest in playoff history, but was stopped by the San Antonio Spurs, 115-111, and now means they must go at least five games.
“Ya just haaaaaad to invite trumpty dumpty..” standup comedian Michael Che said on his Instagram story.
Despite the cost of living soaring and the war in Iran still not resolved, Trump opted to attend the game, which prompted a wave of additional security measures for fans.
The president was invited by Knicks president James Dolan and watched the game from his private suite, but at one point appeared to have his eyes shut. Very public eye rests have become a running theme for the president, who turns 80 on Sunday.
In all, the reception was bad for Trump.
He was greeted with boos when his face popped up on the Jumbotron inside the stadium. His motorcade was also the target of choice gestures from New Yorkers as it approached the MSG.
Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith called Trump’s trip to the game “selfish” early on Monday.
“If they lose tonight? I’m looking right at him. I’m blaming him. I’m blaming the president of the United States of America if the New York Knicks lose this tonight,” he said
It also meant that streets around the stadium closed at 4 p.m., leading to lengthy queues for fans.
“This is not the place for the president to be coming,” Smith said. “He knows it. He just doesn’t care.”
“This is about an individual engaging in a level of narcissism that really rakes my freakin’ nerves. He’s got no business here tonight. It has nothing to do with politics,” Smith said on The Stephen A. Smith Show.
“It was everything to do with the fervor that exists around the New York Knicks, and he is disrupting everything the Knicks have been vibing with.”
Trump claimed that his reception from New Yorkers during the game had been “very enthusiastic” and “mostly cheers.”
He was also quizzed on Smith’s statement, to which Trump said, “I think he’s a nice guy, but you need a certain aptitude to run for president. You need a high IQ. I’m not sure that Stephen has that. I don’t think he does actually.”
Fans were left in disarray by the upheaval Trump caused.
“There are hundreds, if not a thousand people, wandering around in giant herds not knowing where to go or how to get in,” one fan told sports business analyst Darren Rovell. “The police keep saying they don’t know the protocol.”
