Knicks super-fan Spike Lee says “Not attending Knicks at Madison Square Garden this season”

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All Spike Lee wanted was to watch his beloved New York Knicks in action from his usual courtside seat. But he won’t be seen at Madison Square Garden for the rest of the season after a disagreement with the team over what entrance he is allowed to use.

The film director and the multiple award winner was on his way to watch the Knicks taking on the Houston Rockets at the Garden, but for some reasons, the security guards wouldn’t let him into the arena. A video later surfaced on the social media where Lee can be seen haggling with the security officers. But that was not the full story.

spike lee madison square garden

Lee later appeared on ESPN, where he revealed what actually happened there.

“They wanted me to leave the Garden, walk outside … and come back on 31st Street. And I said I’m not doing that,” Lee said.
Lee did watch the game and was also seen shaking hands with Knicks’ controversial owner James Dolan, but the Malcolm X director said he will no more be attending Knicks games this season but will be back in the Garden next year.
“I’m coming back next year, but I’m done for the season,” said the 62-year-old director. “I’m done.”
If you think the whole saga ended there. No, it didn’t. Dolan is not that sort of person who can take a back seat. He can hardly chew anything thrown towards him, let alone digest it. The Knicks fans hate him for reasons. His mistreatment of Lee is not the first instance of famous fans of his franchise getting unduly disrespectful.
Marv Albert, the longtime voice of Knicks was fired in 2004 after he criticized the way the team was being run. Perhaps the most famous of all incident was 9-time Oscar recipient director Woody Allen getting barred from the Garden’s VIP lounge in 2013 for refusing to do.
Knicks also released a statement where they take a dig at Lee for creating an unwanted roar.
“It’s disappointing that Spike would create this false controversy to perpetuate drama,” the statement says,
which was attached with an image of Lee and Dolan shaking hands. The statement also added that he’s always welcomed at Madison Square Garden — “just not through our employee entrance.”
The saga seemed to be rumbling on with Lee adding fuel to the fire on 98.7 ESPN New York that the statement was a bald-faced lie and that the shaking hand was a set-up by Dolan himself.