AILSA CHANG, HOST:
OK, New York City is expensive. I mean, no duh, right? And getting playoff tickets to see the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, even in the nosebleed seats, is not cheap. And so many Knicks fans have instead tried to see their home team at away games, as in outside New York. In fact, so many Knicks fans made the trip down to Philadelphia last weekend that people there called that a fan invasion. Oh, and just an aside - New York did sweep Philly in 4 games out of 7. OK, time out. I will get back to the topic at hand. We're going to talk about these Knicks fan invasions with James L. Edwards III, who covers the Knicks for The Athletic. Welcome, welcome.
JAMES L EDWARDS III: I appreciate you having me. Thank you very much.
CHANG: Thank you for being here. Wait, but I do want to go back to Philly for a second. What was the scene there like on Sunday when the Knicks finished them off?
EDWARDS: It was truly an invasion. I think that is the greatest way to put it. The best scene I could set is Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was shown on the jumbotron during his warm-ups, and the arena was littered with boos.
CHANG: Oh, no (laughter).
EDWARDS: So that goes to tell you how outnumbered Philadelphia fans were in their own arena.
CHANG: Yeah. OK, well, does the math actually work out that playoff tickets are cheaper in other cities if you factor in travel and lodging, meals on the road? Are Knicks tickets really that expensive at home?
EDWARDS: They are very expensive, and I - and even more so in the postseason. And if you factor in proximity, Philadelphia is the closest NBA city to New York City. It's a 90-minute drive. You can get there by train easily. You can get there by car easily. And these tickets at these other arenas just aren't as expensive as it is inside Madison Square Garden. So if you're a Knick fan, there's a chance you could get tickets plus hotel plus transportation for - if not the same price as going to a game at Madison Square Garden, it's certainly a talking point amongst opposing fan bases when they are facing the Knicks because of the - I guess you would say the outpour of...
CHANG: Yeah.
EDWARDS: ...Knicks fans that show up to these places.
CHANG: Yeah, because who wants to be booed when you're playing a home game, right? (Laughter).
EDWARDS: Exactly. Exactly. And I do think there are a few things that factor into this. And I like to lead with love. And...
CHANG: Aww.
EDWARDS: This New York Knicks franchise is famous for the city it played in as opposed to the success on the court. The fan base is very loyal, very passionate. And the other thing that I think people kind of ignore is New York City is by far the biggest city by population in the United States. So...
CHANG: Right.
EDWARDS: It shouldn't be that much of a surprise that there are that many Knicks fans.
CHANG: And we're talking about fans with the disposable income to travel to watch a Knicks game.
EDWARDS: Exactly.
CHANG: Yeah. Well, are other teams doing something to push back on all this? Like, can they impose some sort of residency requirement for buying playoff tickets at, like, their home arenas?
EDWARDS: Yes. There is a tactic that teams have used. They try to give first dibs and most - the majority - of their tickets to people within certain ZIP codes, right?
CHANG: Mm-hmm.
EDWARDS: Now, with that said...
CHANG: Yeah.
EDWARDS: This is the second time in a row the Knicks have made the Eastern Conference finals. A lot of fans are very excited about the possibility of this team getting to the finals for the first time since '99. So there is a real world where a lot of fans do travel for these....
CHANG: Yeah.
EDWARDS: ...And things of that nature.
CHANG: You just nailed it, because the last time the Knicks won an NBA championship was 1973, right?
EDWARDS: Right. Yes.
CHANG: OK. So, I mean, how are they looking this year? And is that the reason fans are getting super hardcore?
EDWARDS: They look really good. I mean, you could honestly say the most dominant playoff team so far. Oklahoma City, who is the title favorites, hasn't lost yet, but New York has won seven playoff games in a row by a average margin of victory of 26.4 points. Now, winning the NBA championship's going to be a different beast. The Oklahoma City Thunder are a very, very good team. But this New York Knicks team, it feels like now or never, and they really do have an opportunity to at least - at the very least - make a competitive finals appearance. The odds of them flaming out in the Eastern Conference finals seem low this year as compared to last year.
CHANG: (Laughter) All right. That's encouraging.
EDWARDS: Yeah.
CHANG: James L. Edwards III, the Knicks beat reporter for The Athletic, thank you so, so much.
EDWARDS: I appreciate you having me. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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