For the diehard
NBA fan, there is a heaven.
It's a place
where money is no concern, your seats always are courtside, and
you've got an all-year, all-access pass into lockers, practice
sessions and press conferences.
Sports reporters
like you. Players hang out with you. Owners are nice to you.
For the
diehard NBA fan, heaven is being in Jim Goldstein's shoes.
Goldstein
doesn't make it onto the front pages or highlight reels, but he's
as much a part of the NBA scene as taped ankles, loud music and
the squeaking of sneakers on a hardwood court.
He was courtside
at Friday night's Spurs victory - white Panama hat, orange-and-
rust streaked suit; long, gray hair; haggard face; and an easy-going
demeanor. Other times, he's in a leather suit and a black fedora.
Goldstein,
who lives in an exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood, carries no
notepad, no camera and no particular agenda.
In NBA arenas,
Goldstein is an island of calm set adrift in a sea of frenzied
fans, retentive arena officials, stressed-out journalists and
psyched-up ballplayers.
"He's
always in L.A. (when we play there)," said current Spur and
former Chicago Bull guard Steve Kerr. "I've seen him my whole
career. I saw him at the Finals last year."
"He's
everywhere," said one network on- camera personality, who
didn't want to be identified by name.
"I've
been covering the league since 1988, and I've always seen him.
Everything we're at, he's at - playoffs, All-Star games, drafts,
whatever. He's just a basketball geek," the sportscaster
said.
"I
see him. I say 'Hi' to him," Spurs forward Sean Elliott said.
"He's always at the Lakers games. And after we beat the Lakers,
I guess he figured we were going to go all the way, because he
was up in Portland and now he's down here."
"I've
been involved with the league since 1981," said Brian McIntyre,
NBA senior vice president for communications, "and he's always
been there. He's a big NBA fan, and he's been one for years and
years. He just soaks in the atmosphere."
Goldstein
admits he's got it bad for the NBA.
"I've
been an intense fan of the NBA since the early 1950s," he
said, and then added:
"Back
then, the NBA was considered an outcast, even by basketball fans,
who largely preferred college basketball."
Television
games were few, newspaper stories were sporadic and attendance
was anemic.
Goldstein's
obsession began when he was playing high school basketball in
his hometown of Milwaukee.
In 1954,
when he was 15, he got a job keeping the play-by-play statistics
for the radio broadcasts of the then-Milwaukee Hawks (the team
has since moved to St. Louis and now resides in Atlanta).
"I
suffered a major catastrophe when the Hawks moved out of Milwaukee,"
he said.
Goldstein
bought a high-powered radio and spent his nights trolling the
airwaves, looking for any NBA broadcast, regardless of who was
playing or how bad the signal.
"I
really loved the NBA back then, too," he said. "When
I had a term paper to do in history, I did it on the history of
the NBA. When I had a speech to give in speech class, I did it
on the NBA."
College
led him to California, where he attended Stanford University and
earned a degree in economics.
Events after
that aren't really clear because Goldstein doesn't like to talk
about his occupation or his personal life.
"It
adds to the mystery," he said with a smirk.
"People
always come up to me all over the NBA and ask 'Who are you? What
do you do?' I tell them 'I'm a basketball fan.'"
He'll talk
ball, all right.
Goldstein
bought his first NBA season tickets, courtside seats for Los Angeles
Lakers games, in 1962, when such tickets went for a paltry $15
a game, vs. the $500 face value those chairs now command.
He hasn't
missed many Lakers games since then. Besides Lakers tickets, he's
also a Los Angeles Clippers season ticket holder and he attends
most of those games, too.
The only
times he misses games, in fact, are when both teams are playing
in town at the same time.
Since the
teams will share a home when Los Angeles' new arena opens next
season, there will be no more conflicts. Goldstein is hopeful
for perfect attendance.
Nor is Goldstein
just a fan of Southern California teams. Five years ago, when
the Houston Rockets were in the NBA Finals, Goldstein made friends
with several players, including current Spur Mario Elie.
"That's
my boy," Elie said of Goldstein. "I love Jim. He's always
supported me. He's a special fan. He's always courtside, always
in one of those snakeskin suits or whatever. He's great."
When playoffs
roll around, Goldstein lives out of a suitcase, hitting a different
game in a different city every night for the first round of the
playoffs.
"I
figure that I attend about 100 games a year," he said, compiling
regular and playoff games.
And when
Goldstein attends a game, rest assured he's not in the nosebleeds.
Sporting
team or league credentials, Goldstein mills around in the corridors
with sports writers, sits courtside or as close as possible during
the game and can be found in post-game interview sessions with
reporters and players.
How does
he do it? How does he afford it? Where does he get his juice with
the NBA?
Don't expect
Goldstein to be precise.
"I've
been fortunate to have some property investments in California
turn out successfully for me so that I don't have to spend too
much time on things I don't want to spend my time on," he
said, vaguely.
Translation:
Goldstein has mucho moolah.
It wouldn't
take an NBA lifer, however, to know that.
Take Goldstein's
Benedict Canyon home, designed by the late John Lautner, a protege
of Frank Lloyd Wright. It's considered an architectural jewel
on the West Coast and has been featured on the pages of Architectural
Digest. The house is used regularly for fashion shoots.
Lautner
also designed the Century City offices of Goldstein Properties
on Santa Monica Boulevard.
But it's
basketball that gets Goldstein going. Check out his business card,
which reads:
James F.
Goldstein
Fashion
Architecture
Basketball
"Those
are the things I'm most interested in," he said. "I
don't have to deal with much of anything else."
Goldstein
said he gets VIP treatment because he's been so visible for so
long and has made friends throughout the league.
"Among
players, he's one of the most recognized non-media members in
the league," said Greg Boeck, USA Today NBA writer. He added:
"He's
got their confidence because they know he's such a big fan. There's
nothing bad about him or about his involvement. He just loves
the game."
He gets
his out-of-town tickets from scalpers, most of whom know him by
reputation or on a first- name basis. And during the playoffs,
Goldstein gets credentials from the home teams.
"I
just rely on my friendships with the officials of the various
teams," he said with his gift for understatement. "They
generally go out of their way to accommodate me, which is nice."
For the
Finals, he sports credentials issued by Commissioner David Stern's
office.
"He
knows David," said Boeck, explaining Goldstein's connections.
It's true.
Goldstein
ran into Stern courtside before Friday's game. They shook hands
and spoke.
"He's
heavily invested into the game," Stern said, joking about
Goldstein's annual ticket tab. "We're trying to figure out
how to hire him so we can tap into his ticket sources."
"Seriously,
he's a great fan, and a very serious student of the game,"
Stern said.
As they
spoke, Spur backup center Will Perdue, who had been taking warm-up
shots, walked over to Goldstein.
"Nice
threads," he said, tugging at Goldstein's jacket and laughing.
Spurs chairman
Peter Holt has seen Goldstein at several Spurs games.
"I
remember when we were in Los Angeles," he said. "We
were in the VIP room and I was talking to Jack Nicholson and David
Stern. We're all talking basketball. In walks Jim. And everybody
says 'Hi Jim.'"
There was
a time when Goldstein tried to make the ultimate commitment -
ownership.
"Actually,
I've always wanted to own a basketball team," he said. "But
values of the teams kept rising. My financial status was always
a step behind the increases in the prices of the teams."
"This
way is better," he said of his frequent-fan status. "This
way, I get to see all of the games without all of the problems
of ownership."
jim@jamesfgoldstein.com