The New York Knicks made a lot of history in the 2026 playoffs, including the largest NBA Finals comeback of all time, the best postseason point differential, and the most wins by double digits. Equally historic is the team’s decision to visit President Donald Trump’s White House.The Knicks will be the first NBA champions to visit the Trump White House in either term. All other champions during Trump’s time in office have rejected the visit, deciding to put politics over patriotism.A lack of patriotism in the NBA should come as no surprise, with just 10% of its players identifying as Republicans. A recent poll found that just 29% of Democrats are very or extremely proud to be American, down from 85% in 2001, while 90% of Republicans signaled patriotism, with that number unchanged from 25 years ago.
There are at least two public Trump supporters in the Knicks organization: Owner James Dolan and backup center Mitchell Robinson, whom the president called a “great patriot” on Truth Social. When the president announced he was going to visit Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Robinson commented, “You ain’t lying brother,” on a video suggesting the broken-handed center would play harder with Trump in attendance. Public support for the president is so rare in the NBA that the only other MAGA-aligned player we know of is Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac.Members of the New York Knicks attend a championship celebration at City Hall Plaza after a ticker-tape parade on June 18, 2026. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images)
