The coolest guy in the building might have been courtside when the Lakers were putting on a show that rivaled the one coming out of Hollywood.
Everyone recognized Jack Nicholson, even across the country.
“When I was a kid, the guy I looked up to was Jack Nicholson,” Spike Lee said. “As I was sitting in the blue seats in the Garden, I said, 'I hope one day I can sit courtside like my boyfriend Jack Nicholson.'”
Lee eventually made it to the front row to watch his beloved Knicks. And this weekend, he and Nicholson will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame together.
They, along with fellow actor and entertainer Billy Crystal and businessman Alan Horwitz, attended the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's James F. Goldstein Hall of Fame on Sunday, hours before this year's class was enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts. It will be added to the Superfan Gallery.
Named after Goldstein, one of the most recognizable non-player faces in the NBA who attends approximately 100 games a year, the gallery is dedicated to his knowledge and passion for basketball, as well as his contributions within the basketball community. We recognize fans for their reputation and appreciation for basketball history. Sports.
In addition to Goldstein, the gallery, which was established in 2018, also includes Penny Marshall and Raptors fan Nav Bhatia.
Celebrities are just fans who have better seats
They are more famous than others, but are essentially the same customers who sit in the cheap seats all the time.
“I just represent all the die-hard fans of the game we love,” said the longtime Clippers ticket holder, whose love for the team stretches back to when they were still playing in San Diego. Said Crystal going back.
Moreover, for the most ardent fans, it never really matters where you sit. It's important to be in the building when your team needs you most.
For Lee, that was May 8, 1970. Lee, then 13, was offered to play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and skipped his father's concert.
Although he wasn't sitting nearby, it was a great view to see Willis Reed take the court after missing Game 6 against the Lakers with a foot injury that put him in doubt for the Finals. .
“I've been to the World Series, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the Olympics,” Lee said. “That's the loudest sound I've ever heard in my life.”
Billy Crystal goes through 'difficult' times in Los Angeles as a Clippers fan
The Knicks won that title and won it again in 1973, but have only come close a few times since they drafted Patrick Ewing with the first pick in 1985 and Lee became the ticket holder. There wasn't.
The Philadelphia 76ers, led by Horwitz, are also waiting for their first chance to contribute to Crystal, although they are still experiencing a long drought, although not as long as the Clippers.
“He's also suffering,” Lee said. “To make matters worse, he was in Los Angeles and was with the Clippers all the time when the Lakers had Magic, Shaq and Kobe. Man, it was really tough.”
Nicholson was on the right side of the Los Angeles rivalry after becoming a Lakers ticket holder in the 1970s.
The three-time Academy Award-winning actor arranged his filming schedule and personal meetings so he could sit next to the visitors' bench while wearing sunglasses at the Lakers' big game.
From there, he watched the Lakers blow a 24-point lead against Boston in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals — a loss Nicholson expected to come as the Celtics were resurgent. I was doing it.
“Towards the end of the game, I kept hearing, 'Hey, Doc, we're walking dead,'” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers at the time. “And he just kept saying it. I had no idea what he was saying, but after he came back and won the game, I understood.”
The two later became friends when Rivers coached the Clippers, and the Lakers' most famous fan even went to see the opposing team during the 2015 playoffs against the Houston Rockets.
“Jack came to that game,” Rivers said. “He showed up to a Clipper game, we got a (big) lead and he left. I don't think he'll ever come back to a Clipper game.”
Nicholson, now 87, no longer goes to see the Lakers and is the only one of the four new superfans not scheduled to attend Sunday's ceremony.
Spike Lee on Hall of Fame honor: “Who would have thought?”
Lee is still a fixture at Madison Square Garden, wearing a Jalen Brunson jersey that once belonged to John Starks.
The Hall of Fame honor is important to him because he has become close with many NBA players throughout his film career, from an Air Jordan commercial with Michael Jordan to movies like “He Got Game.” spoke.
“I know these players, especially the visiting team, and a lot of them come on the court and come say hello to me,” Lee said of the number of times Jordan has sat down on him. He laughed and said what he said. “They give me fives and give me hugs – and these are the enemy teams.”
Sometimes these interactions backfire, with Lee being blamed for the Knicks' losses.
He was accused of enraging Reggie Miller in the playoffs, when Indiana University returned with a Game 5 victory.
On February 2, 2009, when Kobe Bryant scored an opponent-record 61 points, he was in a meeting later that night to discuss a project he was working on, and even if the Knicks won, he told Lee he wouldn't talk to him. I had a motive that I shouldn't do that.
Lee had a stat sheet from the game signed by Bryant that read, “Spike, this (expletive) is your fault!!!”
This will put him in the Hall of Fame along with Jordan, Bryant and many other greats.
“You can't rely on Brooklyn's word,” Lee said. “Who would have thought of that?”
