Don’t drive away your biggest fan.
The list of New York Knicks screw-ups is a mile long and seems to grow by the day.
It’s not just the product being put out on the court. It’s also what happens in and around Madison Square Garden — fans being confronted by security for chanting anti-ownership remarks, getting fined by the NBA for barring a local reporter from events, the Charles Oakley feud with owner James Dolan … it goes on … and on and on.
And that brings us to Monday night’s absurdity: Spike Lee, by far the most famous and loyal Knicks fan in the universe — who continues to sit court-side dutifully night in and out as the franchise flounders — claimed he was being “harassed” by Dolan. He says he was confronted by security about using the employees’ entrance (which he says he’s been using for over 20 years); cameras caught Lee screaming at guards before he eventually made his way to his usual seat.
The drama didn’t simmer away on Tuesday. In typical Knicks fashion, it exploded.
Of course, the Knicks responded later in the afternoon by pushing back and sharing photos that supposedly counter what Lee said:
It doesn’t matter if the Knicks are right about repeatedly telling Lee not to use the entrance. It doesn’t matter if he he did or did not have a handshake with Dolan. What matters is keeping Lee happy.
There’s simply no way the Knicks should be arguing publicly with Lee. In some ways he is the face of the franchise — a statement on how bad the on-court product has been, but also about his own loyalty and passion.
The way to put out this fire is simple: take out everything in the Knicks’ statement except for the fact that Lee is welcome to the Garden as usual. That’s it. Move on. Let Lee descend from the roof of the building each game if he wants to. He’s that important.
Or, if this issue of entrances is truly so vital, have this confrontation privately.
Instead the Knicks let it all become public — drastically so — and are now doubling down and trying to look “right,” even though this isn’t some sort of competition at all. Dolan insists on publicly fighting even the slightest of slights, and that approach — along with the team’s struggles — has angered and alienated fans for years.
It feels like Lee would NEVER leave the Knicks, even in their darkest hours. But if he did? You thought the response to the Kristaps Porzingis trade was bad? Imagine if the one person who’s represented all the hope and love of the fanbase for decades called it quits.
Whatever you do, Knicks, don’t lose Spike.
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