Legendary movie director and Knicks superfan Spike Lee has been attending games at Madison Square Garden for 28 years. He has seen some truly awful basketball but has remained a constant fixture in the court-side seats of MSG through the team’s ups and downs, always supporting orange and blue. However, after a bizarre dispute before the Knicks’ game against the Houston Rockets Monday night, Lee says he won’t be attending another game this season. In fact, the Knicks superfan said that he’s already given away the rest of his tickets for the last 20 games this season.

It should’ve been a celebratory night for the Knicks after pulling off a huge upset win over the Rockets in which rookie RJ Barrett had the best game of his young career. Plus earlier in the day, the team named Leon Rose as the president of basketball operations. Before the game even started, though, a video purporting to Lee being denied access to the arena blew up on Twitter.

“No one told me!” Lee is heard yelling over and over. “I’m staying right here! Now if you want to arrest me like Charles Oakley, then go ahead!”

Lee’s name was trending on Twitter before the game ended, but he was later pictured court side in his usual seats during the game. It was treated as one big misunderstanding by the Knicks, but after an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” Tuesday morning, Lee said that not only will he not be attending another Knicks game this season, but that he’s being harassed by the team’s owner.

“I’m being harassed by James Dolan, and I don’t know why,” Lee said. “How is it the wrong entrance if I’ve been using the same entrance for 28 years! It’s Garden spin!”

While Lee thinks the press release put out by the Knicks’ PR staff is “Garden spin,” the team issued another statement shortly after his appearance on “First Take,” saying that Lee considering himself the victim in this situation is “laughable.”

While Lee thinks the press release put out by the Knicks’ PR staff is “Garden spin,” the team issued another statement shortly after his appearance on “First Take,” saying that Lee considering himself the victim in this situation is “laughable.”

“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. HE IS WELCOME TO COME TO THE GARDEN ANYTIME VIA THE VIP OR GENERAL ENTRANCE; JUST NOT THROUGH OUR EMPLOYEE ENTRANCE, WHICH IS WHAT HE AND JIM AGREED TO LAST NIGHT WHEN THEY SHOOK HANDS.”

Also included in the tweet sent out by Knicks PR was a picture of the media entrance that Lee should not be entering through, as well as a photo of Lee and Dolan appearing to shake hands, which Lee denied to doing earlier this morning, but later retracted that statement. In a phone conversation with The New York Times’ Sopan Deb, Lee responded to the Knicks statement that said he’s perpetuating drama.

“What’s laughable is how the Knicks are the laughingstock of the league in sports,” Lee said. “That’s what’s f—— laughable.”

The Oscar-winning director also said that the Brooklyn Nets reached out to him, but that he isn’t thinking about changing his fandom. When Lee asked Dolan at halftime why he wasn’t told about the new policy, the Knicks owner said rudely, “now, you know.”

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SOURCE: CBS Sports, Jasmyn Wimbish