They came hoping to see history.
Make that, they came with loads of cash hoping to see history. And in the process the fans at Madison Square Garden made some history themselves Sunday.
With 41-year-old LeBron James possibly playing his final game at Madison Square Garden, spectators paid an average of $1,084.48 on the secondary market to attend Sunday’s Lakers-Knicks game, according to Seat Geek. That set a record for most expensive regular season game ever, topping the $977.42 average resale process of $977.42 for the final game of Kobe Bryant’s career on April 13, 2016.
Though James has made no retirement announcement, he is in the last year of his two-year, $101 million deal with the Lakers. Though it seems likely that James will not retire without some sort of Bryant-like retirement tour, both fans and media apparently didn’t want to leave things to chance.
A playoff-like atmosphere filled the Garden before the game, as celebrities mingled on the court with former Knicks players and high-roller fans. Though the majority of those in attendance were still Knicks fans and hoping to see their team extend their winning streak to six games, there was also significant support for James.
James was cheered as if he was wearing an orange-and-gold uniform when he was introduced before the game. If anyone there doubted he was one of the greatest to play the game, those doubts had to be dispelled an hour before the game when James was announced as an All-Star reserve. With the selection, James was named to his 22nd All-Star Game.
James has now made three more All-Star teams than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is second in league history. James did not qualify for the game as a rookie, but he has qualified every season since. He missed last year’s game because of an injury.
Knicks coach Mike Brown coached James early in his career and the two went to the NBA Finals together in 2007 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brown said before Sunday’s game that you knew James was going to have an incredible career.
“Yeah I feel like I’ve been around some great players, and you knew he was special,” Brown said. “…. You saw some of it, being around him on a daily basis, and man, just talking to him about different schemes and different things and then listening to him, like how he feels and sees things on the floor, and you just knew he had a chance to be great. You could feel it.”
James has long called Madison Square Garden his “favorite playground” and indeed he has had his fair share of fun here at the Knicks expense.
Over his 22-year NBA career, James entered Sunday night’s game with a 23-8 record in the regular season and a 1-1 postseason mark at MSG. James has averaged 28.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists, while shooting 49.5% from the field and 38.1% from three-point range.
Through the decades, James has had some fairly memorable performances in New York:
Exactly a year ago, James scored 28 points, dished off 11 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 129-123 overtime win on Feb. 1, 2025. It marked the first time he had played a game at the Garden since January 2020, and he did not disappoint by posting his first triple-double of the season.James, who had picked Miami over the Knicks in the nationally televised decision, was booed loudly in his first game in New York as a member of the Heat. He responded by scoring putting up 32 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists while shooting 60.9% to lead the Heat to a 112-91 win.James became just the second player to have two 50-point games at this Madison Square Garden — the other is Michael Jordan — when he notched 52 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds and two blocks to lead the Cavaliers to a 107-102 victory on Feb. 2009.James gets a standing ovation from Knicks fans after posting 50 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and four steals in the 119-105 Cavaliers win on March 5, 2008. It marks the first time that a player has had that many points, assists and rebounds at MSG since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it on Jan. 19, 1975.
Last night did not make the memorable list. James is no longer the leading scorer on his team, and rarely takes over a game.
He did show fans he can have some big moments like when he scored an alley-oop dunk early in the third quarter to give the Lakers a 60-57 lead. There were cheers throughout the arena after that one.
Just seeing James in person may have been history enough.
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.
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