Overview
- On Monday Stephen A. Smith told ESPN’s First Take that he does not want or need a New York Knicks championship ring and that he “didn’t earn it.”
- Smith said only director and longtime superfan Spike Lee deserves a nonplayer ring, a claim he repeated while discussing his decades of Knicks fandom.
- Smith publicly warned that President Donald Trump’s confirmed attendance at Game 3 in Madison Square Garden could create a major distraction and said he would blame the president if the Knicks lost because of it.
- Reporting cited heavy security measures around Madison Square Garden including street closures, pedestrian gridlock, and the cancellation of pregame media locker-room access as signs the presidential visit could alter game-day logistics.
- Teams sometimes give extra rings to executives, staff or prominent supporters but awarding one to a media employee would be unusual, and the debate over Smith’s comments highlights tensions between television-driven fandom and the players who actually win games as the Knicks sit two wins from ending a 53-year title drought.