Courtside Celebrities

Did you suffer from courtside celebrity overload while watching the New York Knicks during the NBA finals?

There have always been celebrities courtside during basketball games for the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks. For other teams, like the Oklahoma City Thunder, not so much. New York and Los Angeles are homes to thousands of celebrities. No matter the sport, you're going to see some celebrities. And the bigger the game, the more celebrities we will see. And when the New York Knicks hosted their first NBA finals since 1999 this week, there were dozens of celebrities in attendance.

Just off the top of my head, we saw Larry David, Jerry, Seinfeld, Tracy Morgan, Ben Stiller, Taylor Swift, and of course, Spike Lee, who I believe is at every Knicks game, whether it's important or not. Of course, some celebrities care more about being seen than they actually care about the game, and they end up falling asleep, like Donald Trump did last Tuesday night. Apparently, we traded Trump for Taylor Swift for Thursday's game, which most would say is an upgrade.

Courtside means that the seats are literally on the floor, and those sitting in them are physically capable of reaching out and touching the players. A courtside seat during the regular season at Madison Square Garden can go from $4,000 to $8,000 per game. During the playoffs, they can go from $30,000 to over $100,000. Timothee Chalamet revealed that he spent $109,000 for his Tuesday seat just to watch the Knicks lose to the Spurs. However, some celebrities and so-called influencers can get theirs for free. Isn't that nice?

A-list celebrities and influencers are sometimes given free courtside spots on “Celebrity Row” as part of a curated VIP program. These tickets act as marketing for the arena, but there's a catch. Celebs receiving free tickets are expected to engage with the crowd, interact with the jumbotron, participate in promotional material, and behave professionally without heckling opposing players.

That doesn't fly for someone like Spike Lee, who wants to watch the game without any obligations or hassles, and will sometimes heckle opposing players. Ask Reggie Miller. I have to respect that.

Other celebrities spotted on Wednesday night, courtside, and off, were Kylie Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Nas, Adam Sandler, Fat Joe, Chris Rock, Patrick Ewing, Mariska Hargitay, Jimmy Fallon, Rainn Wilson, and the entire Wu-Tang clan, who reunited to perform at halftime. If you are old and unhip like me, and you are unfamiliar with some of those names, you are forgiven.

Of course, there are many more important issues I could've hit today, but I just wanted to have some fun with this.

Creative note: the photos on the wall are actors that I don't really have a lot of respect for. This cartoon was a chore to make, and it involved 11 layers. In addition to that, I started the cartoon six times, and there are seven canvases in the video. Check that out. I woke up at 6 AM, and I finished this cartoon at 6 PM. Who is the hardest-working political cartoonist in the business? It's probably Jack Ohman.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

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