The former Knicks fan who sold his ‘fanhood’ on eBay for $3,450 insists he has ‘zero regrets’ about abandoning the team – even after New York reached the NBA Finals.
The Knicks are back in the Finals for the first time in nearly three decades, with Mike Brown’s team eyeing a first championship since 1973.
New York will face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in a rerun of their showdown in 1999.
But Evan Perlmutter will not be cheering on the Knicks after he grew so frustrated with the team that, in 2018, he auctioned off his support and began following the Los Angeles Lakers.
Perlmutter posted a listing on eBay entitled: ‘Infuriated New York Knicks fan has had enough, selling my fanhood.’
That prompted James Riedel, a YouTuber from California, to bid $3,450. There was, however, a catch: Perlmutter would have to start cheering on the Lakers.
The Knicks fan who sold his ‘fanhood’ has ‘zero regrets’ – even after they made the NBA Finals
The Knicks, who face the Spurs in the NBA Finals, are eyeing a first championship since 1973
‘The Knicks aren’t going to win the finals… they’re more lucky than good,’ Perlmutter said
He posted a listing on eBay entitled: ‘ Infuriated New York Knicks fan has had enough, selling my fanhood’
The stunt did not go down well with Knicks fans – or the team. ‘We’re sure our millions of loyal Knicks fans won’t mind losing this attention-grabbing gentleman,’ the Knicks said in a statement.
Two years later, LeBron James and Co won an NBA championship but now it is the Knicks who stand on the edge of glory.
But Perlmutter told the New York Post that he is comfortable with his decision. ‘I have zero regrets… the Knicks aren’t going to win the finals,’ said the former Madison Square Garden employee.
‘It’s a false sense of the team being good… the cards have fallen in their favor. They’re more lucky than good.’
He added: ‘All the coaches the Knicks went through, the horrible trades, the management, how they treated the fan base year over year, decade after decade, added up.’
Back in 2018, Perlmutter admitted the ‘hate was strong’ from other New York supporters and he has been taunted by friends in recent weeks.
But, he said at the time: ‘Being a Knicks fan is living in the twilight zone… it has just reached a breaking point time and again, like quicksand, the harder I root, the worse it gets.’
Game 1 of the NBA Finals takes place in San Antonio on Wednesday, June 3.
