Fat Joe watched the Knicks demolish the Cavaliers 130-93 in Game 4 from the regular stands instead of courtside, and he’s still heated about it.
The Bronx legend revealed on ESPN’s “NBA Today” that Cleveland’s front office yanked his premium seats after discovering his allegiance to New York, forcing him to relocate to a less desirable section of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Fat Joe wasn’t alone in getting the boot. According to the New York Post, at least ten other Knicks supporters with courtside reservations received calls from Cavaliers executives informing them their premium seating had been revoked, though the team did relocate them to higher sections within the arena. Podcast host Jason Calacanis jumped into the conversation on social media, claiming the Cavaliers had also blocked him from purchasing courtside seats in the first place.
He alleged that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert required all courtside ticketholders to sign a DocuSign agreement prohibiting ticket resale, with violators facing a lifetime ban from the organization.
Fat Joe and other superfans who made the trip to the Midwest — including Timothée Chalamet, Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan and Ben Stiller — were eventually accommodated to the second and third rows, which Fat Joe has referred to as the “Joe Budden seats” in the past, instead of being stuck with no tickets at all.
“Playoff courtside seating is governed by a specific agreement that prohibits the resale or transfer of tickets without approval,” a Cavaliers spokesperson told The New York Post. “All courtside ticket holders are required to comply with the terms of the single-game playoff agreement.”
Billboard has also reached out to the Cavs for comment.
Even without his usual courtside view, It was a celebratory night for Fat Joe, as the Knicks throttled the Cavs to complete the 4-0 sweep in a 37-point beatdown 130-93, extending the team’s playoff win-streak to 11 games.