‘FALSE CONTROVERSY’

Knicks Punch Back at Spike Lee: ‘Laughable’ That He’s Claiming to Be a ‘Victim’

After the Oscar-winning director claimed he’s “being harassed by James Dolan” and doesn’t “know why.”

The New York Knicks said in a statement on Tuesday that film director Spike Lee’s claim that he is “being harassed” by the team’s owner James Dolan is “laughable.” The Oscar-winning director was confronted by Madison Square security guards on Monday ahead of the Knicks game against the Houston Rockets and was barred from entering the arena. Lee said in an interview on Tuesday with ESPN’s First Take that he is “being harassed by James Dolan and I don’t know why.” The Knicks said that Lee was denied entry because he used an entrance for employees and media. “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,” the team wrote in a statement. “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,” the statement added. Lee, however, asserted that he is “done for the season,” after the incident.