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Spike Lee Presents Knicks Stars With Special Gift

New York Knicks superman Spike Lee presented modern stars with a special talisman from Manhattan lore.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Jul 31, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; Spike Lee supporting the USA in the first quarter against South Sudan during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 31, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; Spike Lee supporting the USA in the first quarter against South Sudan during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
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It belongs in a museum ... or, at least, New York Knicks superfan Spike Lee's collection.

The renowned film director stole the show as he partook in a panel headlined by current Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart at Javits Center's Fanatics Fest in Manhattan. Flanked by team legend Walt "Clyde" Frazier and fellow celebrity superfan Ben Stiller, Lee presented Brunson and Hart with a special talisman of Manhattan hardwood lore from his private collection: one of the nets from Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, the game that secured the first of two championships in Knicks history.

Game 7 is most renowned for Willis Reed's pregame entry: having missed Game 6 of the series due to injury, Reed famously limped onto the Madison Square Garden hardwood to quietly announce his intention to partake in the fateful throwdown.

Reed scored only four points, the Knicks' first tallies of the game, but his entry was enough to permanently shift momentum to the Manhattan side. As he presented the net, encased in a frame, to Brunson and Hart, he had Frazier read off his epic statline, one that included 36 points and 19 assists as the Knicks rolled to a 113-99 victory to secure their first championship.

Lee was in rare form on stage with the modern and prior Knicks legends. He did lament the Knicks' championship drought extending beyond 50 years but he's fully on board with this year's title run, predicting that New York would vanquish the hated defending champion Boston Celtics in the semifinal round.

"I think the time is now," Lee said. "F*** Boston."

Lee and the Knicks won't have long to wait to see how they match up against the C's, as this week's schedule unveiling revealed that New York will head to Beantown on Oct. 22 for opening night of the 2024-25 NBA season.

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Geoff Magliocchetti

GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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