Trump will be the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game. But New Yorkers love the Knicks more than they love him

There was a time when Donald Trump was just another celebrity sitting courtside at New York Knicks games. He was famous, but not yet flanked by Secret Service agents or defined by the politics that have left him deeply unpopular in his hometown. Now, more than a decade after attending his last Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, Trump is making a rare trip back to New York City as president to cheer for them in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Invited by Knicks owner James Dolan, he will be the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game. The Knicks are seeking their first championship since 1973, when Trump was 26 and a relative newcomer to the family real estate business that vaulted him to wealth and fame. Two years after that triumph, the team’s owners at the time hired him as a consultant as they looked to sell the arena. Trump has been to more major sporting events than any of his predecessors, including the Super Bowl and Daytona 500, golf’s Ryder Cupin the New York City suburbs, where he was cheered, and last year’s U.S. Open men’s tennis championship in Queens, where he was booed and blamed for long security lines. On June 14, when he turns 80 while wrestling with myriad crises including the war with Iran, economic unease and court rulingsblunting his agenda, he will host a UFC fight on White House grounds. Trump also has expressed interest in attending soccer’s World Cup, which kicks off this week across the United States, Mexico and Canada. New Yorkers love the Knicks more than they love Trump Trump is an avid sports fan, but the affinity he professes for the Knicks is different. It speaks to the Republican president’s identity as a New Yorker and harkens to a bygone era where a front-row seat at a Knicks game was a chance for him and other boldface names to see and be seen. In a city whose wealthy gatekeepers largely turned their noses at Trump’s brash personality and playboy image