Boos for Trump at Madison Square Garden would have once been unimaginable

There was a time when Donald Trump wasn’t just welcomed at the world’s most famous arena but when his attendance was trumpeted. In that not-so-distant past, Trump, who was born in Queens, was a part of Manhattan’s fabric, a New Yorker through and through. “Donald! Donald!” the fans called as he rounded the glass partition of the hockey rink where the New York Rangers played. It was 1999, Wayne Gretzky’s last season. “The Apprentice” was five years away, the White House not even a glint in his eye. When he shook hands and nodded knowingly to the Madison Square Garden masses, they felt happy that their rich and famous neighbor acknowledged them. 

But Monday night, as President Donald Trump smiled broadly and saluted while “TheStar-Spangled Banner” blared and his image was shown to masses on the big screen for nearly eight seconds before Game 3 of the NBA Finals? 

Outright disdain.

Heckling, jeering from every part of the arena was focused like a beam of white, hot angry light into the owner James Dolan’s luxury suite where Trump stood. Secret Service agents, who had commandeered the boxes on each side of the owner’s box, pressed their fingers to their earpieces, as if they were trying to hear above the noisy and disrespectful din.

The intensity of the Garden’s displeasure did not wane even when Trump’s granddaughter Kai was shown behind him. The president smiled and saluted throughout his cameo, as if he was impervious to the crowd that likely wished he had picked some other Garden party to crash. 

Joanne Cadden, 53, a fan dating back to the days of Patrick Ewing and the 1990s contending teams, told The Guardian of London, “He could have picked any other day. This night is for the fans. You’re making people go away from the Garden. This wasn’t the time.”

Cadden gestured toward the 10-foot security perimeter surrounding the arena, adding, “This looks like prison.”

This was all predictable, of course, the moment Trump decided to become the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game. Trump’s appearance felt a good deal like the disruption caused by an overzealous teenaged Spurs’ fan  who darted onto the court at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio during Game 2 in an attempt to snap a selfie with 7-foot-4 Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. In Monday night’s case, an emotionally stilted 79-year-old president essentially sought a selfie with 19,812 basketball fans, most of whom would have put rabbit ears behind his head if they could get close.

Some homecoming for The Donald, no? 

Before Monday, it had been 27 years since the Knicks hosted a Finals game. They went into the night leading the Spurs 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. The only wet blanket on the euphoria was Trump accepting the invitation of his long-time friend, donor, Knicks chairman, Dolan. And it was, indeed, a wet blanket. Trump’s attendance forced the closures of streets and the cancellation of viewing parties outside the arena, and his attendance forced fans to come to the game two hours earlier for presidential-level security protocols.