✰PREMIUM
Director and Knicks fanatic Spike Lee visits Legend’s Sporting Goods in Bay Ridge

BAY RIDGE — There was a ‘Spike’ in business at a Bay Ridge store when award-winning director, screenwriter and die-hard Knicks fan Spike Lee paid a visit to Legend’s Sporting Goods following the team’s first championship since 1973.

The family-owned shop has been open for nearly 40 years at 8224 Fifth Ave. Since the Knicks embarked on their championship run, the shop has seen a major increase in business with fans looking for merchandise.

Lee grew up in Brooklyn and attended John Dewey High School before directing hits such as “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X” and “He Got Game.” In 2019, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman.” He is also a decades-long Knicks season ticket holder and a fixture on Celebrity Row at Madison Square Garden.

Shop owner Pete Lanza said he didn’t know what to expect when he saw the director walk in. “He walked in, and right off the bat I said, ‘Hey, Spike.’ I started talking to him, and he was a really nice guy.”

Lanza called Lee humble. “With stars like that, you don’t know what to expect. They’re like rock stars, but he was just a normal guy. Everyone was doing double takes.”

He took pictures with fans and signed autographs while shopping for both retro and championship gear.

“He bought everything that was a size medium,” Lanza said. “I had to bring it out to the car for him, and I said, ‘Spike, I don’t even have a shopping bag this big.’ I had to bring out a couple of boxes. It was probably our best sale ever.”

Lanza’s son recently created Instagram and TikTok accounts for the store and quickly helped it gain attention. 

“He said he heard about us just through word of mouth,” Lanza said of Lee. “They said he saw something on Instagram or TikTok and he popped in.”

Following the creation of the account, customers began arriving from all over New York City, including Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and upstate.

“He put up the account, and the next thing you know, we had people from everywhere come to the store,” Lanza said. “It was pretty cool. New York is just a melting pot, and every single person who came into the store was part of that melting pot. To have everyone together was cool.”

The store has been around for decades, through championships with New York teams, including the Yankees, Rangers and Giants.

“It picked up, and we never experienced it before,” Lanza said. “It was like Christmas Eve for two weeks. It was just people coming in, and they were happy. It’s like your mother coming into the store, buying Knicks stuff. Everyone was into it, even people who weren’t really Knicks fans — they became fans. They enjoyed the excitement. It made you feel proud to be from Brooklyn and New York and America.”

Even though many sporting goods stores have closed due to online shopping, Legend’s manages to stay open thanks to companies and loyal customers. 

“The companies like New Era and Mitchell & Ness have been really good to us,” Lanza said. “They still support the little guys. They gave us product, which was really nice. We do appreciate it.”

Lanza also mentioned other notable and loyal customers. “We have Irene Hodges come in all the time,” he said. “Her dad was Gil Hodges from the former Brooklyn Dodgers.”

The multitude of watch parties during the NBA Finals showed the impact the team had on the city.

“I don’t want to take anything away from the other [championships], and I’m a big Yankee fan, but this was bigger than the Yankees winning,” Lanza said. “It’s bigger than the Giants. New York is Knicks country.”