The New York Knicks very public and very odd disagreement with superfan Spike Lee has already backfired for the team in more ways than one. They are not only hearing it from fans on social media, who think executive chairman James Dolan has made some questionable choices, but they are now seeing a hit in the stands as well.
After Lee was told he could not use an entrance he says he's been using for 28 years and the situation escalated, angering the Academy Award winner and causing confusion in the basketball world, Lee vowed he would not attend another Knicks game this season, and it seems like a lot of others are doing the same.
The game following the incident saw the smallest home crowd in over 13 years. This doesn't seem like a coincidence.
Madison Square Garden welcomed only 16,588 fans, 3,200 under capacity, to the eventual 112-104 loss to the Utah Jazz. This is the smallest MSG crowd for the Knicks since Dec. 13, 2006, when only 15,895 fans saw a win over Atlanta.
About 13 1/2 years and over 500 regular season games have passed since the Knicks played in front of so few fans at Madison Square Garden, with one in about every six seats empty on Wednesday night.
Hey, at least the concession lines were short.
In no world are the Knicks considered great this season, they are 19-43 after the Utah loss and clearly have issues on all fronts to work out. Despite toiling in mediocrity, they were coming off an exciting win against the Houston Rockets, a game that is now synonymous with the Spike incident rather than the upswing in play.
Lee has been a voice and an ambassador for the team for decades, and clearly fans are standing with him after the incident he had with the higher-ups in the organization.
There are other factors that could have lead to this low number, the coronavirus, the plummeting numbers this season, or the fact that the Jazz rank 28th in road attendance, but numbers this low just days after the feud with Lee, make the main reason for it happening seem obvious.
The Knicks will play at home again on Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
