Landry Shamet is still enjoying the New York Knicks’ championship celebration after the team defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals earlier this month.
While the series showed the Knicks’ dominant performance, Shamet believes President Donald Trump’s attendance at Game 3 disrupted the flow and momentum of the contest.
Landry Shamet Says Donald Trump’s Attendance Changed the Energy of Game 3
Sitting U.S. presidents rarely attend NBA games because of the extensive security measures required. When Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden as a guest of Knicks owner James Dolan, it marked the first time a sitting president had attended an NBA Finals game.
Trump watched the contest from Dolan’s luxury suite alongside his granddaughter Kai, senior adviser Boris Epshteyn, and Cabinet members Doug Burgum, Lee Zeldin, and Sean Duffy.
The U.S. president was cheering for the Knicks, but his presence created unexpected challenges for the home team.
Speaking on “The Old Man and The Three” podcast this week, Shamet explained how the heightened security measures disrupted the team’s normal game-day routine.
“It’s the first time playing in a finals game at home, knowing what it meant to New Yorkers as a whole,” Shamet said. “Let’s just start there. The ticket prices were where we all saw them, like everything that was kind of stacking. You’re like, ‘Okay, this is a big night.’ And then now we got, you know, we’re going through TSA screening. We’re staying in a hotel. So now our home routine is completely thrown off.”
“Game 3 was such an anomaly… It did not feel like a home game.”
-Landry Shamet on @OldManAndThree podcast pic.twitter.com/26XUGmaLwu
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) June 27, 2026
“I remember my level of anxiety that day. I felt that walking out onto the street that morning… It felt like game 3 to me was such an anomaly in that sense, where I agree. It was like it didn’t feel like a home game, everybody was just so uptight.”
The charged environment even extended beyond the players. During the national anthem, Trump appeared on the Madison Square Garden video board for several seconds, prompting loud boos from many fans.
However, Trump was unfazed and dismissed the boos when speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One after the game.
“It was, I think, mostly cheers,” Trump said. “It was loud, and it was very enthusiastic.”
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Besides the unusual pregame circumstances, Game 3 also proved to be the Knicks’ toughest outing on the court.
New York entered the game with a commanding 2-0 series lead after winning both road contests in San Antonio. However, the Spurs snapped their momentum with a 115-111 victory at Madison Square Garden.
That loss proved to be only a minor setback, as the Knicks responded with a historic 107-106 comeback win in Game 4 before closing out the series in Game 5 and winning the Championship.
