Forget the questions surrounding DeMar DeRozan, or the referees, or ESPN and the shot clocks. Throw that all away, because the real story of Game 2 is now painfully clear: Jimmy Goldstein will be in the house.
On my way to @Raptors @BrooklynNets game. Toronto is the only city where I have never seen an NBA game before. #NBAPlayoffs #NBASuperfan
— James Goldstein (@jamesfgoldstein) April 22, 2014
First question: Who is Jimmy Goldstein?
Glad you asked. Because it’s a mystery to most. For all intents and purposes, Goldstein is an NBA superfan. Like a cooler, possibly stoned, version of Nav Bhatia. According to a reputable source he attends over 100 live games every season, almost always courtside, and many of those at the Staples Centre, where he’s held Lakers season tickets since 1961.
Second question: No, really, who is this guy?
Here’s what we know: Goldstein’s father owned a department store in Milwaukee where Jimmy first got his taste of NBA basketball keeping stats for the then-Milwaukee Hawks. And while he remains mum on how he amassed his own fortune, it’s said to have come from real-estate. His incredible L.A. home has appeared on the cover of Architectural Digest, boasts its own Wikipedia page, and is the site of many notable parties, where NBA stars have been known to appear, in at least one instance wearing a T-shirt sporting a picture of Goldstein himself. So he’s a known icon in the world of NBA pop-culture.
In this interview with GQ (worth clicking the link for the photo itself), Goldstein, not exactly a spring chicken, proves that he still has it:
“I bring dates to games, but not always. I’d say maybe fifty percent of the time…I have several girls that I take regularly that all love the game and sometimes they request certain nights. More often, I just ask them. They’re all models.”
Goldstein counts Tony Parker among his close friends, and is close with a number of players. But not Kobe Bryant. We’ll let Goldstein explain:
“I have friends on every team and every team thinks I’m there to root for them. I try to put on a neutral stance as much as possible when I go to the games, with the exception of the Lakers games. The Lakers players are all aware that I root for the other team. With the exception of Kobe, they seem to take it pretty well.
Every now and then Kobe surprises me by walking up to me shaking hands and giving me a nice smile. But for the most part, he ignores me. He doesn’t look at me and even went to the extent of telling Pau Gasol not to say hello to me. He’s never explained why.
Pau and I were very good friends before he got traded to the Lakers. After he became a Laker, he’s standing at the baseline during the Lakers warm ups and he would never say hello. Finally, during the All Star Weekend a couple years ago, when I ran into him and he wasn’t putting on his ‘Laker face’ so to speak, he gave me a big hug and apologized for not being friendly to me at the games, but told me that it was because Kobe asked him not to be friendly to me.”
As he mentioned in his tweet, Toronto is the only NBA city he hasn’t attended a live game in. If Game one on Saturday was any indication, he’s in for a treat.
Extra reading for those interested.
