“Shame on you all” - Fat Joe revealed the Cavaliers blocked Knicks fans from sitting courtside in Cleveland

The New York Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. They now await the winner of the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs matchup and are preparing to chase their first Larry O’Brien Trophy since 1973.

Riding an 11-game winning streak and boasting the highest offensive rating in playoff history at 124.5 points per 100 possessions, their dominance stretches far beyond the hardwood.

As it turns out, this year’s playoffs have also proven that no one can compete with the Big Apple’s fanbase and we aren’t just talking about games at Madison Square Garden. Thousands of fans travel to every single road game to passionately back their team, but one of their most famous supporters, Fat Joe, just had a sour experience in Cleveland.

“We had bought some courtside tickets to the game and once they found out it was superfan Fat Joe, they was like, I can’t sit courtside. New York Knicks fans can’t sit courtside,” he said. “They took the tickets away courtside after we purchased it, so shame on you all.”

Joe and more than 10 Knicks fans had their courtside seats revoked

Joe is just one in a long line of celebrity Knicks fans — alongside Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Tracy Morgan and Anne Hathaway, among others — who passionately follow the team at every home game. And as we can see, traveling to another city is no issue for him either.

Yet, a cold shower awaited him there. Not that it bothered Mike Brown’s squad in the slightest; they closed out the series with a Game 4 sweep, dominant in a 37-point blowout victory that sent a clear message to the rest of the league: they mean business this season.

We already saw just how fierce this traveling Knicks crowd can get during the Eastern Conference semifinals, when they completely drowned out the home fans at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, leading Josh Hart to wonder out loud if Philadelphia was even a sports town anymore.

This taste of passionate, European-style fan culture is a breath of fresh air on the NBA scene. For years, the narrative was that NBA crowds were sterile, only for Knicks fans to completely shatter that notion with their fanaticism.

As for Joe’s unpleasant experience, Christian Arnold of the “New York Post” reported that more than 10 Knicks fans had their courtside seats revoked ahead of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Playoff courtside seating is governed by a specific agreement that prohibits the resale or transfer of tickets without approval,” a Cavaliers spokesperson said, per Arnold. “All courtside ticket holders are required to comply with the terms of the single-game playoff agreement.”

Still, the fans made it into the arena and witnessed their team’s utter dominance, which surely washed away the bitter taste of the courtside seating situation. To an outsider, it might seem trivial — why should these massive stars, who can get whatever they want, care so much?

Knicks fandom goes much deeper than celebrities

But for true New Yorkers, love for the Knicks is something sacred, a feeling Hathaway described perfectly.

“I have a fairy tale feeling whenever I go to the Garden and I see them. Because when I was growing up, like going to a game was such a huge deal and like the closest we ever got was nosebleed. And I remember like looking down and seeing the people who sat close up and like some people got to sit courtside,” Hathaway said.

“And so when I get to go to the Garden now and I get to sit in those beautiful seats, I’m like, oh my God, like eight-year-old me is up there looking down and I’m one of those people now. Special. It’s so special. And I just, I love the team. I’m such a huge fan of Jalen Brunson. He’s just, he’s, I just think he’s such a brilliant player and such a phenomenal leader,” she added.

Knicks fandom goes much deeper than the big-name celebrities you see in the front rows. It is made up of people born and raised in NY, as well as fans from all over the globe, because experiencing the intensity of playoff basketball in Mecca is simply next-level.

So, as fun as it is to hit the road and cheer on the team with friends, we are convinced that for the biggest fans, nothing will ever top the feeling of the bright lights at the Garden right as tip-off begins.

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on May 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

“Shame on you all” – Fat Joe revealed the Cavaliers blocked Knicks fans from sitting courtside in Cleveland