The New York Knicks finally brought an NBA Finals game back to Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
The result left plenty of fans understandably disappointed.
The San Antonio Spurs escaped with a 115-111 victory and snapped New York’s 13-game playoff winning streak.
Despite the loss, the Knicks still lead the series 2-1 after winning the first two games on the road.
For most basketball fans, the explanation for the loss would start and end with what happened on the court.
For some people on the left, however, there was apparently a much bigger culprit, which is, of course, President Donald Trump.
Have you watched the NBA Playoffs this year?
Trump attended the game because he is a longtime Knicks fan and wanted to watch his hometown team play in the NBA Finals.
Tuesday morning on far-left ESPN, talking head Stephen A. Smith pinned the loss solely on the president.
“Our president showed up to New York City last night,” Smith said. “Needless to say, what I feared would happen ended up happening.”
Stephen A. Smith doubles down and blames Donald Trump for the New York Knicks’ Game 3 loss:
“Our president showed up to New York City last night. And needless to say what I feared would happen, ended up happening. The New York Knicks lost and obviously I’m blaming him, why am I… https://t.co/kVYbsZSSqt pic.twitter.com/xFv9hdnQYi
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) June 9, 2026
Smith claimed Trump “disrupted our mojo” and declared, “The man messed things up.”
To be fair, many sports fans grow weirdly superstitious when the stakes are high.
But there was something uniquely predictable about this reaction.
Before tipoff, I found myself thinking that if the Knicks lost, Trump would somehow get blamed.
There was never really any doubt about it, and it happened on X instantly:
Some Knicks fans blamed President Trump, who attended the game, as New York’s 13-game winning streak ended with a 115-111 loss to the Spurs https://t.co/9PCFmmsNzP pic.twitter.com/YcVFnnfO5X
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 9, 2026
“Donald Trump absolutely ruined the Knicks’ moment last night,” says sports journalist Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports). “I believe he is the reason why they lost.” https://t.co/QQfBB18CrW pic.twitter.com/I3gBCCjWST
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) June 9, 2026
Trump will be remembered as The @nyknicks Curse, I don’t understand why the #Knicks invited him to the #NBAfinals2026 #TheCurse #TrumpTheCurse #Knicks #NYC https://t.co/G6BkBmGJC2
— Blanco_Perla #Mets 🇵🇷 (@El_BlancoPerla) June 9, 2026
Knicks are now 0-1 with Trump attending lol https://t.co/0BgAAIkSvE
— da foxxo (@MarshyDaFox) June 9, 2026
As Mediaite reported, CNN data analyst Harry Enten also implied that Trump was a sort of curse for New York’s constantly underachieving teams after the game.
Enten recalled a 20-year-old New York Mets loss in Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series and noted that Trump was at that game.
The Knicks lost because they were not efficient enough on both sides of the floor, and because the Spurs also appeared — at least in my opinion — to receive a favorable whistle at some key moments.
It’s only right to point out that Trump has not cursed New Yorkers.
If New Yorkers are looking for something that has held their city back for decades, they might consider examining the policies and people they keep voting for.
High taxes and other self-inflicted burdens have not exactly helped New York compete for elite talent in free agency over the years.
But naturally, when in doubt, blame Trump.
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