The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most storied franchises around the league, having won 16 NBA Championships in their franchise's history. They're home to a long line of basketball legends like Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and countless more.
It is hard not to be captivated by their greatness, the culture of success, the high-profile players, and the Hollywood personalities that you usually get to see sitting courtside.
Interestingly, a New York Knicks loyalist is now a Laker fan in one of the more bizarre stories of the NBA's offseason.
A man named Evan Perlmutter is, or was, one of the biggest Knicks fans, to the extent that he would endure working at Madison Square Garden for a meager salary just to enjoy Knicks related perks that came with it.
According to an article by Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report, Perlmutter said
“One of the reasons I took it was to have access to the arena and to be able to take the atmosphere in,”
Sadly, this fed-up Knick fan decided to sell his fandom on Ebay, rightfully captioned as:
Infuriated New York Knicks fan has had enough, selling my fanhood.
Currently, a 23-year-old YouTuber named James Riedel, is the owner of the $3,500 winning bid of Perlmutter’s fanhood. A self-proclaimed lifelong LeBron James fan and a month and a half Lakers fan, Riedel reportedly emailed him.
“I originally thought about turning Evan into a Nets fan for the torment,” said Riedel, “but I feel like he should be able to root for the King before he retires.”
In addition, he also added
“I already Vlog my experiences of NBA games so doing them with Evan is just another thing to add to the videos,”
On the other hand, a Knicks spokesperson gave a statement on the matter saying:
“We're sure our millions of loyal Knicks fans won't mind losing this attention-grabbing gentleman,”
Looking back, attention-grabbing or not, Perlmutter was no ordinary Knick Lifer. He described his passion and love for the Knicks in his Ebay listing stating:
I hate the Knicks. I love the Knicks, but I hate the Knicks. Die-hard New York Knicks fan. My childhood room is still filled with posters from the 90's, the good ole glory days. And not just Ewing, LJ, Houston, I'm talking Rick Brunson NYK articles cut-out, laminated, and still in what is now basically a museum. Pictures of me at 13-years old with blue & orange colored braces, that's a tough yearbook photo, and in a Knicks collared shirt to match nonetheless! After all the ups, downs, more downs, more downs, infinite downs, I have reached my absolute breaking point.
Unfortunately, his breaking point was his team picking Kevin Knox over Michael Porter Jr. in this past summer's NBA Draft. Knicks fans are notoriously known as the harshest critiques of their beloved team, due to the team’s lackluster decisions over the years.
Time will tell if the franchise is finally turning over a new leaf by setting itself up for future success with Porzingis and Knox at the helm.
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