The day after the New York Knicks drafted Patrick Ewing in 1985, Spike Lee bought season tickets and began a 41-year courtside vigil that would carry him through the heartbreak of the Ewing era, the collapses of the 1990s, and a championship drought that stretched more than five decades.

One year before the Knicks finally ended their 53-year title drought, Lee revealed just how much the franchise meant to him. During an appearance on TNT’s Inside the NBA, he admitted: “I would give up an Academy Award, Oscar, for the Knicks to win a championship. I got two already.”

So when New York finally captured the NBA title in San Antonio, one of the first people Lee thought about was Michael Jordan. The filmmaker left the Bulls legend a 10-second voicemail: “We haven’t talked in a minute. The New York Knicks are world champions. Call me back! Orange and blue skies! Wassup Mike!”

For longtime NBA fans, the call carried far more meaning than a simple championship celebration. Jordan spent much of the 1990s crushing Knicks title hopes, while Lee spent decades courtside watching New York repeatedly come up short. The voicemail felt less like a random congratulatory call and more like a message decades in the making.

The friendship between Michael Jordan and Spike Lee is one of the most influential relationships in basketball culture, even though it began through business rather than basketball itself. Their connection took off in 1988 when Nike paired Jordan with Spike Lee’s fictional character, Mars Blackmon, from the film She’s Gotta Have It. In the commercials, Lee played the fast-talking basketball fan obsessed with Jordan’s sneakers and repeatedly asked why Jordan was so good. The famous answer became: “It’s gotta be da shoes.”  

The campaign quickly became a cultural phenomenon, helping transform Air Jordan from a basketball shoe into a global brand. Years later, Lee revealed he once asked Jordan why he had been selected for the commercials. Jordan’s answer was characteristically blunt: “Motherf***er, you were wearing my shoes.” According to Lee, Jordan believed he authentically represented the culture that had embraced the sneakers long before corporate America fully understood their impact.

The friendship always carried an unusual dynamic because Lee was also one of Jordan’s loudest opponents. Throughout the Bulls-Knicks battles of the 1990s, Lee regularly exchanged trash talk with Jordan from his courtside seat. Speaking to Stephen Colbert years later, Lee recalled one memorable exchange when Jordan looked toward the sideline and shouted: “Sit your skinny Black ass down!”

For Knicks fans, Jordan was the final boss Patrick Ewing’s teams could never beat. Time and again, Lee watched from his courtside seat as Jordan turned championship dreams into another offseason of what-ifs.

Jordan Supported Spike Beyond Commercials

Their relationship extended beyond Nike. Jordan was among the high-profile athletes and entertainers who helped financially support Spike Lee’s film Malcolm X when production funding became an issue. That gesture reflected the respect that existed between them beyond basketball and advertising.

Lee later revealed that Jordan’s competitive nature even influenced his decision to help fund the project. After learning that Magic Johnson had already contributed, Jordan reportedly responded: “Magic gave what? I got you, Spike, I got you.”

The film was ultimately completed with support from Jordan and several other prominent figures, a gesture Lee has repeatedly credited as vital to preserving his original vision.

Yet the voicemail that followed the Knicks’ championship may have been the most fitting chapter in their story. For decades, Jordan represented everything Lee and Knicks fans couldn’t overcome. He won the battles, the playoff series and the championships.

But after 53 years of waiting, Lee finally got the last word.