Spike Lee vs The Knicks

[BeastMan]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28829234/spike-lee-done-watching-knicks-msg-season

Has anyone followed this? Cliffs: There was a dispute caught on camera b/t Spike and security. Spike says he?s not coming back this year and the Knicks have put out a statement saying the dispute is rooted in his use of the employee gate and not the VIP gate.

I kind of go back and forth on this one. Spike said on First take he didn?t shake the owner?s hand court side when he clearly did as shown by the Knicks release with the pic. You have to wonder how much of this situation is Spike being difficult if he can?t be truthful about talking with Dolan court side.

The flip-side is Spike has had season tickets for like 30 years and courtside for like 20. His courtside pair is $300k a year. He?s spent $10M on Knicks tickets when they?ve largely been a laughing stock post Ewing era. He?s used the same gate to enter the Garden for 20 years. Spike is a major shareholder in the Knicks. It?s hard for me to imagine being Dolan and having a problem with a guy who had given me $10M for a horrible product.

What y?all think? I don?t think either side is blameless but I?m leaning toward Spike?s side like 65/35. Maybe it is different if Dolan is a good owner but he?s been a train wreck.

[ShotgunDawg]

I think Dolan could be the worst owner in sports followed side by side by the Haslam family.

That being said, Spike likely thinks he's entitled to somethings that he really isn't entitled to.

All that being said, if I had to guess, bad organizations usually lack communication and my best guess is that there was change in middle management somewhere in the organization and the new middle management was not notified of Spike's privileges and that ultimately led to this.

[TUSK]

Spike Lee.... ugh....

https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/180528/95703841_medium.png

[BeastMan]

I think Dolan could be the worst owner in sports followed side by side by the Haslam family.

That being said, Spike likely thinks he's entitled to somethings that he really isn't entitled to.

All that being said, if I had to guess, bad organizations usually lack communication and my best guess is that there was change in middle management somewhere in the organization and the new middle management was not notified of Spike's privileges and that ultimately led to this.


Yep. If it wasn’t for Dolan I’d tend to lean to Spike being entitled. That said, if guy has gone through the employee gate for 20 years and he’s given you $10M, why change that now? He’s damn near a Knicks ambassador so give him some dumb title Knicks ambassador and keep it moving. It’s yet another stupid Knicks story playing out on the media

[Irondawg]

Little fault on both sides - Spike could have been much more graceful and handled it behind the scenes and got it straightened out but he turned it into a bigger deal than it was.

[StarkVegasSteve]

On the surface it's not a big deal, but with Dolan being involved the media and Knicks fans will try to turn it into a big deal. Spike turning this into a big deal is just a media stunt. He knows he shook Dolan's hand, but anything that can be done to drag Dolan through the mud a little more they'll do it. It's without a doubt Dolan is the worst owner in sports, but he's shown time and time again he's not selling the Knicks. They just need to accept they'll suck until he sells the team or dies.

[thf24]

I'd side 100% with Spike if not for the self-inflicted credibility hit (handshake, etc.). Still about 90% since it's just one of countless terrible moves by the organization under Dolan. Huge mistake not to make sure a supporter of that magnitude can do practically whatever he wants.