'Real' fans at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center are something to cheer about
The Quershif family takes a selfie outside Madison Square Garden before an NBA game between the Knicks and Golden State on Feb. 23. Credit: AP/Brittainy Newman
Normal? No, this is not normal.
But it is a baby step in the right direction. For the first time since COVID shut down the New York area in mid-March, there were real fans in the seats at professional sporting events here Tuesday night.
The lucky few — some might say the brave bordering on foolish few — lined up outside of Madison Square Garden in Manhattan and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn before game time. They came carrying hand sanitizer, a basketball jones and proof on their mobile phones of having had a negative COVID test in the last 72 hours.
"The feeling of being able to go to a Knicks game after work is comforting to me," said Devon, a lawyer who grew up on Long Island but asked that his last name not be used. "This kind of feels like a return to normalcy."
All told, 2,000 were allowed inside the Garden to see the Knicks take on Golden State. There were 300 at the Barclays Center to watch the Nets face Sacramento, a trial run for when 1,800 likely will be permitted inside after the All-Star Break.
The games were the first being played before actual paying customers since March 8, 2020. Both teams played that night with the Nets defeating the Bulls, 110-107, and the Knicks defeating the Pistons, 96-84.
So much we never could have imagined has gone down since that night. For the sake of finishing this column without dissolving into tears, the discussion here will be limited to changes in the sporting world.
Who could have thought that we would get used to watching our teams play in empty arenas in front of virtual fans featured on LED screens? Who could have predicted we would all get used to that horribly fake piped-in crowd noise? Who could have predicted that COVID protocols would dictate starting lineups and cause chunks of games to be postponed.
Tuesday night, some of that began to change in New York. For the players, even a handful of fans seemed better than none.
"I’m just happy to have the fans back, honestly," RJ Barrett said. "It means a lot. It means a lot to New York. It means a tremendous amount for us, to give us that extra boost. I miss that joy and happiness of just having the fans there and cheering."
Said Nets coach Steve Nash: ""You could hear the fans a little bit. I’m not going to say it was Friday night 18,000. But it was nice to have people in the building. I think it gave us a little more life. Little things like that give the players a boost. It’s been a difficult year."
Fans at both venues the had a lot to cheer about coming into the game.
For the first time in a long eight years, New York could have two basketball teams in the playoffs this year.
The Nets are the hottest team in basketball. Tuesday night’s 127-118 win over the Kings extended their winning streak to seven games. Since the 76ers also won last night, the Nets remain a half-game out of first place in the East. But they are knocking hard at the door. The Nets have beaten every team that matters in the NBA this year and, even with the Big 3 rotating in and out of the lineup, look like a legitimate contender.
The Knicks, meanwhile, have been even a bigger surprise. With their 114-106 loss to Golden State, the Knicks missed out on a chance to become a .500 team. But the prospect that they were in that position at all would have seemed laughably unfathomable at the start of the season. At tipoff, the Knicks were in seventh place in the East and only one game out of fourth place.
For the first time in a long time, there was a good feeling at both buildings. Fans at both places had to feel a little better about how things were going.
No, it wasn’t normal. But we’re getting a little closer.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
