Cardi B is making the first NBA Finals game in New York City in 27 years even more epic ... TMZ has confirmed she's performing at Game 3.
A source tells us the "WAP" singer will be the star of the halftime show Monday night when the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs head to the locker room.
Cardi will be among a huge list of celebs in the house at Madison Square Garden for the first NBA Finals matchup at MSG since the Knicks and the Spurs back in 1999.
PresidentDonald Trump's trip to the NBA Finals is getting boxed out by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries... who says POTUS has a knack for making every big event about himself.
The House Democratic Leader weighed in when Jacob caught up with him on Capitol Hill Monday. Watch the clip ... Jeffries questions Trump's sudden Knicks fandom and explains why he's not exactly thrilled about the prez showing up to Madison Square Garden for Game 3.
Jeffries told us New Yorkers have waited decades to see the Knicks back in the NBA Finals ... and suggested the spotlight should stay on the team instead of the controversy surrounding Trump's visit.
Spike Lee had the legendary West 4th Street courts lookin' like a Knicks block party on Monday ... just hours before tip-off of the most anticipated basketball game in NYC in decades!
The Academy Award winner and NYK superfan pulled up to The Cage in a royal blue and orange wrapped bus, the Fanatics Fan Wagon, around noon -- as scores of fans surrounded the bus to chop it up with Spike, before he heads to the Garden for tonight's game.
Lee and Fanatics hooked fans up with autographed memorabilia, including a signed Karl-Anthony Towns jersey.
President Trump loves a good wall ... so it's only fitting Madison Square Garden set one up outside the venue ahead of POTUS' attendance at Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
The safety barricade was put in place by Monday morning ... one of the many safety measures implemented in preparation for Nos. 45 and 47's appearance at the World's Most Famous Arena for the Knicks vs. Spurs matchup.
The vibes will be quite different from the usual ... as rowdy watch parties will not take place outside the building, which has upset Knicks supporters. There will be an event at Bryant Park for backers to congregate at instead ... a 15-minute walk away from MSG.
Stephen A. Smith is calling foul on President Donald Trump's plans to Game 3 of the NBA Finals tonight at Madison Square Garden ... blasting the visit as a massive headache for New Yorkers and saying POTUS has "no business" showing up.
Roll the tape ... the ESPN personality unloaded during Monday's episode of "First Take." SAS didn't dive into politics or policy, but he made it clear he's not thrilled about POTUS bringing the Secret Service circus to one of the biggest basketball nights of the year.
Smith argued MSG isn't some sprawling football stadium with acres of parking and room to spare ... it's smack in the middle of one of the busiest parts of NYC, where traffic is already a nightmare before adding a presidential motorcade and security detail to the mix.
Charles Oakley and James Dolanaren't the only feud in Knicks nation -- the beloved hooper is also beefing with his former teammate, legend Patrick Ewing -- and Oak tells us there's no hope for salvaging the relationship.
"For Patrick not to be man enough to come and talk to me after having his back for 10 years, he's a coward," Oakley told Babcock of his longtime teammate and friend.
We followed up, asking if the relationship could be repaired.
The Spurs fan who rushed the court for a pic with Victor Wembanyama is not only persona non grata in the NBA's eyes -- he's in trouble with the law, too.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office tells TMZ Sports the individual -- a juvenile -- was arrested on two charges in connection with Wednesday night's stunt at Game 1 of the Finals at Frost Bank Center ... where he "intentionally breached court security personnel."
Officials say the first charge, Disrupting Meeting or Procession, was committed by "intentionally disrupting a lawful gathering, namely, the Spurs basketball game, through physical interference."
Karl-Anthony Towns' mom wasn't physically in the stands for game 1 of the NBA Finals, but the Knicks star says he felt her presence in a real way ... and it helped KAT lead N.Y. to a huge victory!
"I just felt a calm and a peace that had to be coming from the woman above," Towns told the "Inside the NBA" crew after the thrilling game.
KAT:
"I just felt a calm and a peace that had to be come from the woman above (his mom). I felt like a kid. It was just fun out here. It felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games. In a way I felt like I was seeing her in the… pic.twitter.com/iGj4FwxL8C@ohnohedidnt24
"It felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games. In a way, I felt like I was seeing her in the stands. It was fun. It was really fun, and it was really comforting."
8:50 AM PT -- The fan's stunt resulted in his arrest and a lifetime ban from all NBA arenas, the league announced.
Another fan involved in the incident was also handed a ban for life, the league added.
A fan interrupted Game 1 of the NBA Finals in hopes of getting a selfie with Victor Wembanyama ... with the unwelcome guest rushing the court and approaching the San Antonio Spurs superstar with his phone before getting yanked away by security.
The odd moment went down in the fourth quarter as the Spurs and New York Knicks duked it out ... when a guy wearing a black zipped hoodie, white shirt and black pants sprinted onto the hardwood.
It's clear the 7'4" French center was his target (he kept shouting "Wemby" as he ran) ... but considering the hooper's height, the court stormer never got a clear shot of his face. We take it he has much bigger issues to deal with at the moment than a botched selfie.
President Trump says he is heading back to New York to watch the Knicks, but how will MSG react?? Plus, Spencer Pratt's mayoral fate will soon be decided and the controversy over Kevin Hart's roast continues. So we gotta ask ...
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdanisays he's down to watch the Knicks in the NBA Finals, but don't expect to see him sitting courtside with President Trump... that's IF the commander-in-chief shows up at Madison Square Garden.
Jacob caught up with Mamdani Thursday in Queens, and asked him about Trump saying he plans to attend a Finals game after being invited by Knicks owner James Dolan.
Mamdani doesn't sound too interested in making it a bipartisan basketball outing ... saying, "If the president went to a game, that's his decision to make. If I go to the game, I’ll be doing so separately."
President Trumpwill be at Madison Square Garden for an NBA Finals game, but Bill Bradley, former U.S. Senator and N.Y. Knicks star, says he won't be the center of attention!
The Knicks alum has some advice for the Prez, saying ... "If [Trump] goes to the game, he has to realize he is second fiddle. He's the president of the United States, but at an NBA Final, if he attends, he's second fiddle. He's not first."
"We'll see what he does. Quite frankly, I don't give a s*** what he does," Number 24 said.
PresidentDonald Trump says he'll be at Madison Square Garden when the NBA Finals tip off next month ... confirming he was invited by James Dolan, owner of the Knicks.
Rumors began to swirl this week that POTUS would make a trip up to the Big Apple for the series -- the first time the Knicks have played for an NBA title in nearly three decades.
Trump cleared things up during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
Adam Sandler's love of the game comes first ... ditching formal wear to show a little team spirit on the red carpet for his wife's new movie.
The actor and comedian posed for pics with his better half, Jackie Sandler, at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on Tuesday for the world premiere of Netflix's new rom-com, "Office Romance," starring Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein.
While Jackie -- who plays Caroline in the flick -- dressed to the nines in a casual-chic black ensemble, Adam pulled up in a bright orange Knicks hoodie and blue sweats ... not the average celeb's go-to red carpet look -- but par for the course for the "Happy Gilmore" star.
President Donald Trump's a New Yorker first and foremost ... so of course he's considering playing hooky from the White House to watch his beloved Knicks.
According to the New York Times -- POTUS is seriously considering showing up to Madison Square Garden to cheer on the squad during the NBA finals sometime next week.
The outlet reports President Trump planned to hit up MSG Wednesday for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals if the Cleveland Cavaliers had pulled off a win Monday against New York in Game 4 ... but they fell way short -- losing 130-93.
Fat Joe was in the building to watch the Knicks sweep the Cavaliers, but he wasn't courtside after the home team put the kabosh on the rapper's plans ... but fresh off the victory, Joe Crack is telling TMZ Sports exactly what went down behind the scenes!
"I bought courtside tickets to Cleveland. We flew in, and they found out it was Fat Joe early afternoon and they were like, 'Yo, you're dead on the tickets,'" Joe told us Tuesday afternoon in New York City.
He then turned to buddy off camera and asked ... "I wonder, did we even get the money back from the tickets? We might've gotten robbed for the money."
