Howard Stern would ‘quit’ before sitting second row at a Knicks game

Bad news for dual Howard Stern and New York Knicks fans. The better the Knicks are, the more likely Stern is to quit.

Stern isn’t shy about the fact that he’s not a sports fan, but he does like the Knicks. So much so that he watched the entire first half of Monday night’s Game 4 before conceding to his 8 p.m. bedtime.

“I still feel like the Knicks are gonna blow it. I get agita with that team,” might be one of the most relatable things Stern has ever said on his SiriusXM Radio show.

Despite his fandom, it’s been years since Stern attended a Knicks game in person. And one thing is sure: he won’t be attending Game 6 at Madison Square Garden unless invited to sit courtside.

“You can tell your place in show business by where they place you at the Knick game. The day they put me in the second row, I quit. Because I consider myself a first-row type person,” Stern said. “I’m very aware of where they seat me and it’s very important to me. If they said to me, ‘Look, you’re not gonna be in the first row,’ I’d turn around and leave, it would be embarrassing to me.”

This isn’t the first time Stern talked about being embarrassed to sit courtside at a Knicks game. Two years ago, Stern said he was “upset” that Black NBA players would ignore him while sitting in the front row, but they would hug Tracy Morgan and Chris Rock.

“I hope it’s racial,” Stern claimed at the time, explaining he wouldn’t be able to accept that he was no longer relevant enough to be acknowledged by basketball players. Similarly, Stern would now quit his radio show before accepting he was no longer relevant enough to sit in the front row.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but what if the Knicks make the NBA Finals for the first time in more than a quarter-century? Would Stern call to see if they will give him his old courtside post near the announcers?

“I have tremendous interest, but I wouldn’t go. I’m very self-conscious. I wait for them to invite me,” Stern added. “I don’t want to take advantage and I know everyone comes out of the woodwork for the Finals, I don’t want to be that guy. I prefer when the Knicks are dead last, then I don’t feel guilty taking the tickets because nobody wants to go.”

So, to go to a Knicks game, Stern needs to be invited, sit courtside, and have the Black NBA players say hello to him. And if it’s a night game, he wants to be in bed by halftime.