Spike Lee was there! Director gleefully recalls attendance at Game 7 of Knicks' 1970 NBA title
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Spike Lee had a bag seemingly made out of a basketball slung over his shoulder — even his fashion sense got game — and took his front row seat ahead of yet another Knicks’ playoff game. The Oscar winner leveled up in his playoff seats for Game 3 on Friday night between the Knicks and the 76ers from a more famous Knicks postseason game on the same date. Spike Lee wanted to teach a history lesson.
“Today is May 8 ” Lee said. “I was at Madison Square Garden, May 8, year of Our Lord, 1970, Game 7 versus the Lakers. I was 13.
I was there. ” Where did you sit, Spike? “NOT COURTSIDE,” he said as he burst into laughter.
The 69-year-old Lee was at the Knicks’ clincher when his beloved team defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for their first NBA championship. It’s more commonly known in NBA circles as The Willis Reed Game. Reed, the captain of the Knicks appeared to be sidelined by a badly bruised right hip that kept him out of Game 6, a win by the Lakers that forced a seventh game.
The NBA MVP famously limped onto the court at Madison Square Garden. He outjumped Wilt Chamberlain for the opening tip and scored the first basket from the top of the key. Reed hit another jumper but didn’t score again in 27 minutes.