The New York Knicks return home to Madison Square Garden riding a historic 13-game playoff win streak and two wins from the NBA championship, but many fans worry that President Donald Trump could jinx them.
The president will attend Game 3 back in his hometown, which is forcing the cancellation of some watch parties that have sprung up around New York City during his year's postseason, and panelists on MS NOW's "Morning Joe" wondered whether his injection of partisan politics will end the team's good fortunes.
"I think we close out by looking ahead to tonight, which was going to be a huge party," said co-host Mika Brzezinski. "I mean, people were going to party and then they were going to party outside Madison Square Garden. There were going to be post parties and pre-parties, and the streets were going to be filled with joy, and how is that still happening?"
"It'll still happening in New York City, but it's not going to happen near Madison [Square] Garden, which is where it's been the heart of this, these sort of organic fan gatherings – wild scenes, pretty funny stuff, frankly, and yet, because President Trump has chosen to attend tonight's game three of the NBA Finals, Knicks up 2-0 on the [San Antonio] Spurs. That stuff can't happen, and there – you're a Knicks fan. There are a lot of Knicks fans like yourself who are deeply apprehensive that, as the as the kids say, the vibes are immaculate around this team, but Trump might ruin it."
Journalist Pablo Torre expressed trepidation about the president's attendance and its possible impact on the Knicks chasing their first title since 1973.
"They're careening into a a historic ditch if this is how this goes," Torre said, "and look, Knicks fans, I grew up one, born and raised blocks from the Garden. We're always waiting for the next shoe to drop, and if that shoe belongs to the president as he walks in through the VIP secret tunnel that no fan can afford to enter, right. I cannot help but think sports, like America, has an affordability crisis right now, and the most on-the-nose is just exemplar of this is this story. You can't even be outside. You can't even be outside, let alone inside, and so who's this for? What's it about?"
"I thought the Knicks were ours as a city, turns out none of it is ours," Torre added. "It belongs to the same guy that we've spent now, you guys have spent hours this morning taking us from the Middle East to private prisons and into, of course, the question of whose birthday is this again? It's all his birthday party, that's what we are learning."
