NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
Reed hit another jumper but didn’t score again in 27 minutes. He had done enough as the Knicks clinched the title with a 113-99 win.
Reed, who died in 2023, created one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain.
And Lee was in the house.
“Back then, the Garden had different colors,” Lee said in a train-of-thought interview with The Associated Press. “My father’s lawyer had season tickets for the yellow seats. May 8, 1970. The Knicks won Game 7! The Lakers had Wilt Chamberlain. Jerry West. Elgin Baylor.
“I have a picture in my office of Willis Reed on the training table getting a needle. Listen to this, though. The reason why he came out late was because it took time, it takes times for the drugs to go through your body.”
Advertisement
Reed’s spot in history was secured simply by walking onto the floor on the final night of that season.
Reed had injured a thigh muscle in Game 5 of the series…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/spike-lee-director-gleefully-recalls-234339651.html
Author : DAN GELSTON
Publish date : 2026-05-08 23:43:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
