Fansided

Every NBA team’s biggest celebrity fan

By Brendon Kleen

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Beyonce and Jay Z laugh during the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on January 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Beyonce and Jay Z laugh during the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on January 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 07: Spike Lee attends the game between the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden on February 7, 2015 in New York City.NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 07: Spike Lee attends the game between the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden on February 7, 2015 in New York City.NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

New York Knicks: Spike Lee

About a year ago, I went to go see the director Spike Lee speak. It was at my school, and the idea for the event was that Spike would talk about his career, several students and faculty members would ask questions, and we would all go home. There were two problems with this idea: First, the event was billed as a celebration of Spike being a “visionary” and second, that one of the faculty members was an attractive and smart woman. Spike couldn’t handle himself.

It was clear immediately that if given an inch, Spike would take a mile. The night was basically just spoonful after spoonful of ego being shoveled into Spike’s thirsty face. An entire class of film students gazed at him in disbelief from across the stage as they asked various questions about being an auteur and a racial commentator. They loved him. He loved himself.

It’s why Madison Square Garden balances him out so well. In the middle of Manhattan, surrounded by 9 million other people, in the most historic basketball arena ever, Spike can’t be the center of everything. Try as he may, he’s just a part of the Knicks story — a small part. Because he’s incredibly well-known as a Knicks fan, he gets pulled into every story still. But no one thinks about Spike in conjunction with the Knicks anymore, because no one really thinks about the Knicks at all anymore.

For a New York sports fan, the pack mentality is the dominant one. He is part of a morass of Knicks fans who are on Melo’s side of the Phil Jackson media battle. But no one truly cares what he thinks, he’s just a megaphone. That’s why he’s the most representative and important celebrity fan that New York could ask for.

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