Now that 24 hours have passed from the beginning of this bitter feud, it is time to see if we can make any sense of the situation that unfolded between the New York Knicks and Spike Lee.
Where to even start. All I can say is leave it to the New York Knicks to follow-up their best win of the season with a public dispute with their most famous super fan. It’s tough to determine what actually happened since this has now turned into a he-said, she-said type of situation.
BroTalkLive shared a video via Twitter that establishes the start of our feud. “Director Spike Lee denied entry to MSG. Rumors are circulating that MSG CEO James Dolan didn’t want the famed director to enter” was the video’s caption.
In the video you can see Lee yelling with security. “No one told me, I’m staying here” echoed down the halls as Lee stood his ground. I’m staying here. And if you wanna arrest me like Charles Oakley, go the f— ahead.” What was Spike Lee not told?
According to the New York Knicks it was about an employee entrance. The New York Knicks Public Relations released a statement regarding the incident and even a picture of James Dolan and Spike Lee allegedly shaking hands and reaching an agreement.
“The idea that Spike Lee is a victim because we have repeatedly asked him to not use our employee entrance and instead use a dedicated VIP entrance – which is used by every other celebrity who enters The Garden is laughable. It’s disappointing that Spike would create this false controversy to perpetuate drama.”
The statements above are clearly labeling Lee as the villain instead of a victim. This press release didn’t sit well with Lee, who let The New York Times’ Sophan Deb know via text.
“This press release, which is upsetting me, is an unmitigated, baldfaced lie. 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.” Lee would take his fight to ESPN.
Spike Lee hopped on First Take to defend his position and to blow the top of this incident. “They wanted me to leave the Garden, walk outside … and come back on 31st Street. And I said I’m not doing that.”
There doesn’t look to be a solution for this season as Spike has already sworn off New York Knicks games for the remainder of the season. Spike Lee has claimed that he’s been entering the employee entrance for 29 years and the Knicks are claiming they’ve told Lee to use the VIP entrance numerous times before.
We’ve reached a standstill between James Dolan and Spike Lee, as it appears neither one is going to budge, each believing the other is the problem in this situation. At the end of the day it’s the New York Knicks what were you expecting. Every time this team takes one step forward they have to take two steps back.