Spike Has a Dream
The Knicks are up 3-1. Spike Lee woke up at 6:14 with the image of John Starks rising over Michael Jordan, except it was Jalen Brunson. He is not in distress. He is trying to locate the feeling.
NEW YORK — Spike Lee woke up at 6:14 and the image was already there.
John Starks. Horace Grant somewhere below him. Michael Jordan was there, too. And Starks rising — except it was Jalen Brunson. Brunson’s face, Brunson’s arm extended, the whole play. Brunson, who is as good as they get. Same picture. Different person. Correct in some way he couldn’t explain.
He checked the series. Still 3-1.
He put the phone face-down and looked at the ceiling.
The dream wasn’t bad. That was the issue. Spike has been in that seat since the Ewing era. He knows what a Knicks loss feels like at 6 a.m. — the particular shape of it, how it settles. The Knicks have not won a championship since 1973. Spike Lee was sixteen years old. This didn’t settle like that. This settled differently. He doesn’t have a name for the feeling yet.
He made coffee. He thought about calling someone. He didn’t call anyone.
The Knicks are one win from their first championship since 1973. Spike Lee is not in distress. He is simply trying to locate the feeling, which he is confident exists, somewhere.
