The New York Knicks are wrapped up in their latest weird saga due to an incident with superfan Spike Lee. According to a video captured at some point during Monday night’s game against the Houston Rockets, Lee got into a heated exchange with team personnel on his way into the arena. He eventually got to his courtside seat and watched some ball, but despite that, it was only the beginning of some drama between the franchise and its most prominent supporter.
Lee went onto ESPN’s First Take and railed against the Knicks’ owner, James Dolan, saying he’s being “harassed and I don’t know why.” In response, New York released a statement for reasons that no one totally understands, one that included a picture of the entrance and a photo of Dolan and Lee shaking hands.
Now, Lee is going back on the offensive, speaking to Sopan Deb of the New York Times over the phone about the statement. Lee did not mince his words, saying the statement the team issued was a “lie” and calling the franchise “the laughingstock of the league.”
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234913130024767488
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234914509854298113
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234915012302561281
Lee then mentioned an incident involving him not being allowed to exit that Howard Stern was allowed to use, then continued to say the team’s statement lied about him being told to go through another entrance.
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234915570379870209
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234915755252178944
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234917979806191619
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234919062498619393
Also, the Nets have apparently reached out to Lee, but as Reggie Miller has probably learned, Lee’s going to stay a Knicks fan even if he has some gripes with the organization right now.
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1234916292756459520
The entire saga is fascinating, because you would imagine after the Charles Oakley debacle from last year, people who call the shots of these sorts of things in the Knicks organization would realize that absolutely nothing can come from someone beloved by the team’s fans. Instead, this is happening, and if all the stuff with Oakley taught us anything, it’s that this may go on for some time.
