Photo Credit: Brooklyn Nets

After Ethan Hawke Criticized The Knicks, They Took Away His Tickets

New York Knicks owner James Dolan isn’t really loved by Knicks fans, or the NBA fans in general. He also doesn’t seem to have the best connection to celebrity fans.

Last year, the Oakley defamation and false imprisonment, this year Ethan Hawke?! Well, just like Oakley, the actor (Training Day, Boyhood…) also is a hometown hero. Hawke grew up being a huge Knicks fan, something that is no longer the case, thanks to James Dolan.

Hawke was guest on The Bill Simmons Podcast and told the story about how he got tickets taken away from him after publicly criticizing the team.

Simmons: Who’s your team?

Hawke: I’ve been a Knicks fan for a long time, but I got kicked out of the Garden. They won’t give me tickets anymore.

Simmons: What are you talking about?

Hawke: I’m being serious. I’m being dead serious. I really was vocal on some talk shows like this that I thought it was a huge mistake to let Mike (D’Antoni) go and I would have bet on Mike (D’Antoni) before I bet on Melo.

It was not over Melo, but over – there was something genuinely exciting. The first thing that had been exciting since Jeff Van Gundy left in the Garden with the Knicks was Linsanity.

Simmons: Linsanity was incredible.

Hawke: It was absolutely incredible in the way that the organization didn’t fan the flames and let Mike do what he wanted to do. Let these guys run. Let them play ball. And instead, Mike’s on his way to the Western Conference Final. And, you know, the Garden’s empty.

But I have been left team-less. The point is that I’m not wanted and I don’t go where I’m not wanted. It’s hard to be a fan for a place that doesn’t like you.

Simmons: Well, one person doesn’t like you.

Hawke: One person who owns (the team) … I called up one night and they said it would be $7,800. I was like, “Oh, um, oh, why is this the first time you guys are charging me?” They said that you should have thought of that before you went on the Jimmy Fallon Show. I was like, “Wow, this is real.” So I’ve apologized publicly many times to try and get my seats again.

Transcript via USA TODAY Sport’s FTW