By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-30 21:20:57 | Updated at 2024-09-30 23:32:43
2 hours ago
New York basketball superfan and film director Spike Lee has been seen on the sidelines of countless Knicks games through the years. On Sunday, he swapped an NBA court for the WNBA.
The New York Liberty are in the midst of a best-of-five semifinal series against the Las Vegas Aces - who boast superstars like league MVP A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum.
Lee decided to spend some time ribbing Plum in particular during the game - with the 'He Got Game' writer/director chirping at the Aces guard throughout the contest.
The 67-year-old filmmaker was seen getting up out of his seat to trash-talk Plum, as he's been known to do at Knicks games over the years.
Plum, 30, was seen chirping right back at Lee, telling him to 'Keep talking'.
New York basketball superfan Spike Lee was seen trash-talking Kelsey Plum at the Liberty-Aces game on Sunday in the semifinals of the WNBA Playoffs
Plum didn't back down from the chirping, shouting back at the legendary filmmaker
If Lee's trash-talk was supposed to be an attempt to throw Plum off her game, it didn't work - with the guard scoring 24 points and four assists on the day to lead her team.
However, the Liberty were able to win on their home turf 87-77 - thanks in part to a resurgent performance from Sabrina Ionescu.
Ionescu dropped 21 points - going 50 percent from 3-point range - with Lee giving her props along the way as he wore the Liberty star's jersey.
'To be honest, I think he might have been the first person that called me when I got drafted here,' Ionescu said after the win. 'I think that's a story that I don't know if I've ever said.
'But he was, I think, the first person that called me and just shared his excitement with New York getting the No. 1 pick [in 2020]. Kind of every time I've seen him along the way, we've just had small talk, and I kept telling him he's got to come out to a game because this is kinda like no other.
'To be able to see him here, cheering us on loud, he was over there chirping at the refs, talking to the players, which was really fun. But obviously, it's exciting to see the support that we're getting from all New York fans.'
The Liberty were led by Breanna Stewart's 34 points on the night - with other significant contributions coming from Jonquel Jones' double-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds.
Liberty stars Breanna Stewart (L) and Sabrina Ionescu (R) led New York to a win over Las Vegas
New York and Las Vegas met in last season's WNBA Finals - and now meet again in the semifinals.
Last season, the Aces came out on top with a three-games-to-one win over the best-of-five finals series to win their second consecutive title.
They'll hope to make it a three-peat by knocking off the Liberty and playing the winner of the series between the Connecticut Sun and the Minnesota Lynx.
The Sun eliminated Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in a sweep - giving the rookie of the year time to enjoy herself after a long and grueling season that started when she was drafted out of Iowa in the spring.
Connecticut and New York have never won a WNBA titles - while Minnesota has won four and the Aces have won two.
