Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson walked into the most expensive building in sports on Wednesday night and couldn’t afford good seats. That’s not a knock on the signal caller who averages $52 million a year for himself, but a $50,000 bill is very difficult to justify for one game – even if it’s one of the greatest NBA games in half a century.

Jackson showed up to Madison Square Garden for Game 4 of the NBA Finals, with the Knicks hosting the Spurs. Floor seats were off the table, so Lamar posted an Instagram Story, a scene from Out of the Shadows, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, where the turtles watch a Knicks game from high up in the rafters. Under the picture, he wrote:

“They told me floor seats so expensive you have to watch the game like the ninja turtles 😵‍💫 and even those tickets around 50-60K.”

Jackson was notably absent from the courtside, where more than 100 celebrities – Taylor Swift, Jeremy Strong, Adam Sandler, and more – were seated. But the ticket prices back up Jackson’s complaint.

For this particular game, Upper-deck seats cost between $1,350 to $2,100. Lower Level sidelines ran $1,400 to $9,500. Jackson’s price estimate landed right in the courtside, where the tickets ranged from $38,000 to $75,000+. But Jackson wasn’t there to just complain about tickets.

After the game, Jackson walked the streets of New York with a Knicks jersey in hand, taking selfies with fans and local police. A reel from Lamar Jackson Entertainment on Instagram displays Lamar’s highlights of the night, showing Jackson enjoying his night in Manhattan just like any other Knicks fan.

Now, Jackson’s basketball roots actually go back to Louisville, where he and Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell were freshmen together. The two would often have dunking contests in the gym, and in one particular interview, he declared that Lamar was “windmilling, throwing it off the wall, like crazy.” Apart from these college roots, Jackson also follows the WNBA, crediting Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese for the league’s visibility surge under them.

So when Jackson was complaining about ticket prices at MSG, he wasn’t a casual tourist. He was a genuine fan who got priced out of good seats at the exact right game.

The game that justified every dollar

Jackson’s excitement for Game 4 was valid – this was the biggest night in the Knicks franchise history for over two decades. They hadn’t been to the NBA Finals since 1999, and their last title came in 1973 – 53 years ago. The Spurs had bounced back in Game 3 with a 115-111 win, snapping New York’s 13-game win streak, and pulling their advantage down to 2-1.

In Game 4, the Spurs dominated the first half, led by Victor Wembanyama, shooting an NBA Finals record 14 threes to build a 76-49 halftime lead. That deficit climbed up to 29 in the third quarter, but the Knicks were far from done.

The Kinds started a 13-0 run in the third, and the Spurs pressed harder in the fourth. Jalen Brunson had the final hot. His long 3 bounced out, and OG Anunoby tipped it in with 1.2 seconds. Head coach Mike Browns called it “the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball.” The Spurs failed on the final possession, and the verdict was 107-106, Knicks. New York now has a 3-1 lead and heads to San Antonio with the hopes of winning their first championship in 53 years.

Now, if the Spurs force a game 6, it comes back to MSG – the same building Jackson couldn’t get courtside tickets for. If Game 6 happens, those tickets will cost more than $60,000 again, and Lamar Jackson might either have to pay up or find an even bigger Ninja Turtles reference.