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Stephen A. Smith would like the public to know that he does not want President Donald Trump attending Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.
"He's coming to Game 3 of the Finals, and I don't want him there," Smith said unprompted on his radio show while discussing the president's plans to attend Monday night's Knicks-Spurs matchup.
"It has nothing to do with politics, policy, or anything like that. It has everything to do with him disrupting and contributing at the same time to the chaos that's going to exist at Madison Square Garden. If it were Barack Obama coming to the Garden, I would say, 'Stay home.' Stay at the White House."
On Wednesday, OutKick confirmed through a source familiar with the plans that Trump is expected to attend Game 3.
"I think I'll be going to one of the games," Trump said last week when asked about the Knicks' playoff run.
Trump also said he had planned to attend Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals before New York wrapped up the series early with a four-game sweep of Cleveland.
Monday night is expected to be one of the biggest nights in New York Knicks history. The franchise will host an NBA Finals game for the first time in 27 years.
Though originally underdogs against the Spurs, the Knicks have won 12 straight playoff games and currently lead the series 1-0. New York has not lost a game since, wait for it, April 23.
According to Smith, New York City will be hectic enough without Trump in attendance.
"You don't understand what Monday is going to be like in New York City," Smith said. "The subways will never be more packed. Don't 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't understand. I have been covering sports for over 30 years.
"And I'm 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."
As important as Smith believes he is, we don't expect his plea to change Trump's plans.
Notably, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver views Trump's attendance as a positive.
"We're seeing that in New York, and I think President Trump is very much a New Yorker, and I'm thrilled that yet another New Yorker wants to participate in the enthusiasm and the joy around this Knicks team," Silver said this week.
We suspect other members of the media will also complain about Trump attending the game. Perhaps former MSNBC host Joy Reid will give up her Knicks fandom, as she claimed to do with the New York Giants after quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced the president on stage last month.
For us, this is simple. There is nothing political about the president attending a basketball game. Nor is there anything political about associating with or shaking hands with the president. The idea that welcoming Trump to a game or on stage constitutes a partisan statement is flawed. In fact, holding that view is the partisan position.
And no, we don't believe Smith when he says his objection to Trump attending the game is not politically motivated. This appears to be another example of Smith pandering to his audience, as he so often does.
As for how Knicks fans feel about Trump coming to the game, OutKick asked them about that on the streets of New York City this week:
"It’s great to see," Trump said about the team's run. "The Knicks have really suffered for years."
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