Filmmaker Spike Lee says he would trade one of his Oscars “in a second” for the New York Knicks to win the NBA Finals. He also ties the choice to his longtime working relationship with Denzel Washington and recalls years of Knicks devotion, including bringing
Spike Lee has two Oscars, and he says he’d give one up immediately to see the New York Knicks win it all.
In an interview published on Thursday, Lee said, “I got two. I would trade the honorary one and keep the one for screenwriting for ‘BlacKkKlansman.’” He added: “Trade that in a second.”
Lee’s Knicks loyalty isn’t just talk. During the current Finals run. he attended each of the first four games—trips to San Antonio for Games 1 and 2. then a return to Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4. It’s a routine he’s maintained for decades at the arena. and it’s part of why the idea of trading an award doesn’t sound hypothetical.
He also suggested he might be willing to make another kind of sacrifice tied to his longtime collaborator Denzel Washington. Lee said he would pass on one more movie with Washington if it meant a Knicks championship. “Well, Denzel said publicly like he only has two more films and he’s done,” Lee said. “He added that the actor probably wouldn’t take issue with his choice: ‘But Denzel understands why. he said already he’s retiring.’”.
The connection between Lee’s work and his team runs deeper than coincidence. Lee has worked with Washington on five films over more than two decades, and the filmmaker framed the decision through that history—while pointing to Washington’s stated timeline.
Lee also shared an earlier, personal episode of fandom that has become part of his Knicks story. After learning Pope Leo XIV attended Villanova University—the alma mater of three current Knicks players. including captain Jalen Brunson—Lee said he brought two Knicks jerseys to the Vatican. “I had two going to Vatican City. I gave him one, signed by me, and I gave him another for him to sign. It came back two months later, but it was signed,” Lee said.
For Lee, the fan identity appears to have started with family. In a May interview with NPR, he said his father began taking him to Knicks games as a child. His father’s lawyer held season tickets in the Garden’s yellow seats and gave Lee the chance to attend the 1970 NBA Finals. Lee recalled. “He said. ‘You go to the game.’ I was at the Willis Reed game slash Walt Frazier game. where the Knicks won their first NBA championship.”.
That moment stayed with him. Lee said it left such an impression that he made a promise to himself: “So I said, Lord, if I ever make any money, I just want to get season tickets.” He then did exactly that, holding New York Knicks season tickets since 1985, per ESPN.
His public presence at Madison Square Garden has continued to grow. In 2024, he was recognized as a SuperFan by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
That long devotion now sits beside the modern, expensive reality of the Finals. The average ticket for a New York Knicks game can cost anywhere between $250 and $350, per Ticketmaster. As of Friday, StubHub listings for Saturday’s Game 5 ranged from about $1,400 to more than $35,000.
Through all of it—Oscars, movies, Vatican jerseys, and yellow-seat season tickets—Lee keeps returning to one scoreboard: a Knicks championship. In his telling, it’s the one outcome strong enough to make everything else negotiable.
Spike Lee Knicks NBA Finals Oscars Denzel Washington Madison Square Garden Jalen Brunson Pope Leo XIV Villanova SuperFan Ticketmaster StubHub