Spike Lee And Denzel Washington Skipped The Oscars To Watch Knicks-Lakers Together Down The Street

Los Angeles was a busy place for big events on Sunday night, with the 2023 Oscars taking center stage for many at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. However, in downtown L.A., the Lakers were playing host to the New York Knicks at Crypto.com Arena at the same time, creating something of a conflict of interest for the many stars of the silver screen that frequent the courtside seats at Laker games.

Most of Hollywood’s biggest stars chose the Oscars, with the exception of two massive names from the film world who happily chose to dress down on Oscar night and pop over to take in Knicks-Lakers, as Denzel Washington and Spike Lee sat together courtside.

On a night where neither men were nominated for anything, there was no reason for them to choose the Oscars over their beloved Lakers and Knicks (respectively). Washington (a New York native) is a regular at Lakers games, while Lee is the most famous Knicks fan in the world, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise they were there, but it was rather notable on a night most of their colleagues were elsewhere in the city.

It’s especially hard to blame them for choosing an NBA game in comfortable clothes over the Oscars in a tux, particularly when you consider we get a meaningful Knicks-Lakers game late in the season only about once every decade. L.A. was looking to get back to .500 on the season with a win and tie the Wolves and Mavs for 7th in the West, while the Knicks could tie the Nets for fifth in the East with a victory on Sunday night.