Ethan Hawke had his free Knicks tickets taken away so he became a LeBron fan instead

Ethan Hawke stopped getting free tickets to Knicks games, and he switched fandoms because of it, he said on the Ringer’s Bill Simmons podcast. His free tickets stopped after he made critical comments about the team’s decision to fire then-head coach Mike D’Antoni on the Jimmy Fallon Show. Hawke spoke freely about how he had to pay to attend games, and how he felt like he wasn’t wanted in attendance.

Here’s part of the podcast, transcribed:

Hawke: Ive been a Knicks fan for a long time but I got kicked out of the Garden.

Simmons: What?

Hawke: Yeah they won’t give me tickets anymore. I’m being 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. I would’ve bet on Mike before I bet on Melo [Carmelo Anthony].

Simmons: That was it? You sided with D’Antoni over Melo.

Hawke: 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 that 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.

I have been left team-less.

Hawke went on to talk about how he’s grown into a LeBron James superfan, essentially giving up on the Knicks entirely now. He admitted to being a bandwagon fan.

Simmons: You could buy tickets if you wanted.

Hawke: 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 would call up about and say ‘Hey can i get some tickets’ and they’d be like ‘Hey Ethan’ sometimes they wouldn’t have tickets but they’d hook me up. Sometimes the seats were great, sometimes they weren’t great depending on the night.

I called up once and they said ‘that would be $7,800.’ I was like, ‘Oh, um, 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.

So Hawke is allowed to attend games, just on his own dollar. James Dolan strikes again.