LOS ANGELES — No player has traveled a more circuitous or costly road to the Finals than Jim Goldstein. The ubiquitous super fan from Los Angeles, who is on a first-name basis with the league's stars, saw 32 games in 10 cities in 44 days in the first three rounds of the playoffs and logged 30,633 miles.
He sat courtside for every game but one (Game 7, New Jersey at Detroit), and will be courtside for all the Lakers-Pistons series, his 15th consecutive Finals and 32nd overall.
"The financial toll is not hard because I go into denial," Goldstein says. "And the physical toll gets wiped out by the adrenaline I experience from these games."
This isn't a one-time gimmick for Goldstein, who made his millions in real estate. A fan since the 1950s when he grew up watching the Milwaukee Hawks, he's held Lakers season tickets since 1962. He paid $83,850 this season for his courtside seat. He also owns two Clippers season tickets (cost: $60,200) and attends close to 80 regular-season games a year.
His record for postseason games is 37, which he'll break if the Finals go six games.