Spike Lee: 'Knicks are the laughingstock of the league'
Longtime New York Knicks fan Spike Lee fired back at the club after it called out the filmmaker in a statement for creating a "false controversy."
The 62-year-old was involved in an altercation with Madison Square Garden personnel regarding the entrance he used before Monday's contest against the Houston Rockets. The Knicks denied any wrongdoing Tuesday and said the idea of Lee being the victim was "laughable."
"What's laughable is how the Knicks are the laughingstock of the league," Lee told the New York Times' Sopan Deb.
"This press release, which is upsetting me, is an unmitigated, bald-faced lie," Lee added. "Capital letters. On my late mother and my late brother's grave, this is a lie. That they say that they had repeatedly asked me not to use the employee entrance. That is a lie."
The Knicks' press release also included a photo of MSG chairman James Dolan shaking hands with Lee, which the Oscar-winning director claims to be a setup.
"Notice the angle ... it was taken from the roof of The Garden by a Garden photographer," Lee told Deb in a text message. "This picture was planned. It was put in motion that Dolan come to (my) seat and speak with me at the half."
Only fans but it’s James Dolan harassing Spike Lee
— Bald man gets paid (@bhannah__) March 3, 2020
Only hands pic.twitter.com/Eju8VuEo88
Lee has been a Knicks season-ticket holder for the past 28 years, spending approximately $300,000 annually on his courtside seats, but he insisted he's never had much of a relationship with Dolan.
In an interview on ESPN's "First Take," Lee said he wasn't sure why the owner is harassing him.
"This is personal," Lee explained, according to Deb. "I know this is coming from James Dolan. He runs The Garden. I've been coming here for three decades. Those ushers, security guards are my friends. They saw my children grow up. ... I don't want them to get fired because he sees me speaking to these employees.
"People walk on eggshells at The Garden. You can get fired on a moment's notice. I don't want nobody to get fired. And I want to state that this has nothing to do with the players. This is me and Dolan."