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Knicks Discover Courtside Fandom Also Comes With Reviews
· New York time
New York Knicks guards Tyler Kolek and Miles McBride called Taylor Swift's NBA appearances a little performative, prompting the team to defend the pop star. The exchange turns a familiar arena spectacle, the celebrity in a prominent seat, into a debate over who counts as a sufficiently authentic fan. Swift is among the world's most recognizable performers, and her appearances at games draw attention from cameras as well as the crowd. The players' comments add an unusual twist: in a business built around attracting viewers, the viewing habits of one famous spectator became a topic of their own. The team defended Swift after its players named her the fakest celebrity fan. That puts the franchise in the awkward position of mediating between the people on the court and a person in the stands, with the whole disagreement taking place under the gaze of an entertainment industry that benefits from both. There is no reliable test for what a spectator feels while watching a game, however much confidence a panel of teammates may bring to the subject. And the camera's interest in a celebrity is not the same thing as evidence of that celebrity's motives. Still, the arena has found a new way to rate performance: not points, assists or rebounds, but whether the customer looks sufficiently sincere while sitting down.
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