Back when the Lakers were putting on shows as good as anything coming out of Hollywood, the coolest guy in the building might鈥檝e been courtside.
Even across the country, .
鈥淕rowing up, the guy I looked at was Jack Nicholson,鈥� Spike Lee said. 鈥淲hen I was sitting in the blue seats at the Garden, I said, 鈥楬opefully one day I can sit courtside like my guy Jack Nicholson.鈥欌��
Lee eventually made it to the front row to watch his beloved Knicks. And this weekend, he and Nicholson will together make it to basketball鈥檚 Hall of Fame.
Along with fellow actor and entertainer Billy Crystal and businessman Alan Horwitz, they will be added to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame鈥檚 James F. Goldstein SuperFan Gallery on Sunday, a few hours before this year鈥檚 class is enshrined in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Named for Goldstein, one of the NBA鈥檚 most familiar non-playing faces who attends some 100 games a year, the gallery recognizes fans for their knowledge and passion of basketball, along with their reputation within the basketball community and their appreciation for the history of the sport. Besides Goldstein, the gallery established in 2018 includes Penny Marshall and Raptors fan Nav Bhatia.
Celebrities are just fans with better seats
They are more famous than most, but at heart are just like the customers sitting way up in the cheap seats.
鈥淚 merely represent all devoted fans of the game we love,鈥� said Crystal, a longtime Clippers ticket holder whose love of the team dates back to when they still played in San Diego.
Besides, for the most die-hard of fans, it鈥檚 never about where they sit. It鈥檚 just about being in the building when their team needs them most.
For Lee, that was May 8, 1970. Then 13 years old, he missed his father鈥檚 concert performance after receiving an offer to attend Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He wasn鈥檛 sitting close, but still had a great view to see with his injured leg that had forced him to miss Game 6 against the Lakers and had his availability in doubt for the decider.
鈥淚鈥檝e been to World Series, World Cup, Super Bowls and Olympics,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the loudest noise I鈥檝e ever heard in my life.鈥�
Billy Crystal has had it 鈥榬ough鈥� in LA as a Clippers fan
The Knicks won that title and added another in 1973, though have only gotten close a couple times since Lee became a ticket holder after they drafted Patrick Ewing with the No. 1 pick in 1985. Horwitz鈥檚 Philadelphia 76ers are also still stuck in a lengthy drought, though still nothing quite like the Clippers, still waiting for their first chance to deliver for Crystal.
鈥淗e鈥檚 been suffering, too,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淲hat makes it worse, he鈥檚 in L.A. and he鈥檚 all the years with the Clippers when the Lakers had Magic and Shaq and Kobe. Oh man, that was really rough.鈥�
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 would adjust his shooting schedules and personal meetings so he could be seated in his sunglasses next to the visiting bench at big Lakers games.
It was from that spot that he watched the Lakers blow a 24-point lead against Boston in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals 鈥� a defeat Nicholson saw coming as the Celtics were rallying.
鈥淚t was late in the game and I just kept hearing, 鈥楬ey Doc, we鈥檙e dead men walking,鈥欌�� said Doc Rivers, then the Celtics coach. 鈥淎nd he just kept saying it. I didn鈥檛 quite know what he was talking about and then I figured it out late when we came back and won the game.鈥�
The two would become friends when Rivers later coached the Clippers, and the Lakers鈥� most famous fan even went to check out the other side when they were facing the Houston Rockets in the 2015 playoffs.
鈥淛ack came to that game,鈥� Rivers said. 鈥淪howed up at a Clipper game and then we blew a (huge) lead and he left and I don鈥檛 think he鈥檒l ever go back to another Clipper game again.鈥�
Now 87, Nicholson no longer goes to see the Lakers and is the only one of the four new superfans not expected to attend Sunday鈥檚 ceremony.
Spike Lee on Hall of Fame honor: 鈥榃ho would have thunk it?鈥�
Lee is still a regular at Madison Square Garden, now wearing a Jalen Brunson jersey that was once a John Starks one. The Hall of Fame honor is significant for him, he said, because of how close he has become to many NBA players through his film career, from Air Jordan commercials with Michael Jordan to movies such as 鈥淗e Got Game.鈥�
鈥淚 know these guys and especially the visiting teams, a lot of these guys, they come on the court and they come and say hello to me,鈥� Lee said, chuckling at how many times Jordan would profanely tell him to sit down. 鈥淭hey give me five, give me a hug 鈥� and these are the opposing teams.鈥�
Sometimes, those interactions backfire and Lee bears the blame for a Knicks loss. He was blasted for riling up Reggie Miller in the playoffs when Indiana came back for a Game 5 victory. When Kobe Bryant poured in an opponent-record 61 points on Feb. 2, 2009, he was motivated by not letting Lee run his mouth if the Knicks won when they were meeting later that night for a project they were working on.
Lee has a stat sheet from the game signed by Bryant, who wrote: 鈥淪pike, this (expletive) was your fault!!!!鈥�
Now he鈥檒l join Jordan, Bryant and many other greats in the Hall of Fame.
鈥淩esorting to some Brooklyn language,鈥� Lee said, 鈥渨ho would have thunk it?鈥�
