The greatest player in NBA history is a hot button topic — it’s always up for debate. In sports, the criteria to be considered one of the greats begins with who’s winningest. However, in basketball, that’s rarely where it ends. Questions like how many championships did a player win have to be taken into account. What era did they play in? How many superstars did they have on their team? What impact did they have in shifting the game and culture at large? And on and on.
Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. LeBron James. These are the names typically mentioned in talk shows and podcast segments when the topic of who’s best comes up. No consensus has been reached. But what about the greatest fan of all time? For this question, there’s unanimous consent: James “Jimmy” Goldstein is widely considered to be the greatest fan in NBA history. At 85 years old, he’s attended more than 5,000 NBA games, cementing himself as a courtside fixture over the past six decades. Ask Goldstein who the greatest player is and he’s got an answer and an argument at the ready: “That title to me means who has had the greatest career of all time, and under that definition, I think LeBron James clearly deserves the award.”
It Has to Start With His Courtside Fashion
Goldstein’s favorite arena to watch games in is Paycom Center because of the enthusiastic Thunder fans, he said over FaceTime. He’d just landed in Oklahoma City ahead of Game 1 of the 2025 Western Conference Semifinals against the Denver Nuggets. “They are so wholeheartedly behind their team, and when you go to a game here, every single fan, with the exception of myself, is wearing an OKC T-shirt,” he said. Goldstein doesn’t do team shirts. He’s got a look, and it makes him hard to miss. With a slight frame covered in luxury leather, his white, curly shoulder-length hair is topped with a textured hat. He doesn’t have a name for his aesthetic, but he’s heard it called “cowboy couture.”
“My favorite outfit changes from season to season because I only wear the latest that I’ve purchased. It’s very hard for me to go back and pick out one from every year,” Goldstein said. For that night’s game, he planned to wear a white python hat paired with a new red leather jacket that he had just purchased the week before, in Paris, for the photo shoot for this story. “It’s Dior and it happens to be a woman’s leather jacket, size 42, and fits me perfectly.”
How It All Began
Experiencing an NBA game in-person, let alone courtside, is a luxury that most fans of the league can’t afford. Former NBA commissioner David Stern once called Goldstein the “largest investor of NBA tickets in the world.” For Goldstein, watching a game from the best seats money can buy is worth it. “Not only do I get to communicate with the players during their pregame warm-up, but [during the game] hearing what they are saying, seeing the tremendous effort close-up that they put out is something that you can’t get on television,” he said.
Goldstein’s love for professional basketball grew from a love of playing the game when he was a young kid.When he was 10, in the 1950s, Goldstein’s father took him to anNBA game. The first time Jimmy Goldstein sat courtside, he was just 15 years old; he’d gotten a job keeping statistics for the television announcer of the Milwaukee Hawks.“That’s when I really got hooked. From that time on, NBA basketball has been my true passion,” Goldstein said. Now, he’s seen more than 5,000 games and almost all of them sitting courtside.
Being close to the court, Goldstein feels like he is part of the game itself. A few times he actually was. When asked what his most memorable courtside interaction has been, he said without hesitating: “It was in Miami. I was sitting right next to the basket, courtside. Shaquille [O’ Neal] dribbled down the court and made a tremendous slam dunk right next to me. Instead of turning around and running up the court, he ran to me, snatched my hat off my head and put it on his head and continued to play with my hat on. Of course, all the fans went crazy.”
It’s the Game, Not the Team (on Rooting Against the Lakers)
Most of the games Goldstein attends are in Los Angeles, where he lives and famously roots against the hometown Lakers. “You have to understand, I always go against the grain with everything. With everyone in LA rooting for the Lakers, I have to root for the Clippers instead,” he said with a smile. But his reasons aren’t simply to be a contrarian.“ For 60 years, the Lakers have had an unfair advantage over the other teams because all the great players want to play for them and they’ve always managed to get the greatest players. I like parity. I like every team to have an equal chance to win, and that has been a major factor in rooting for the visiting team.
There’s perhaps no better example than when the Lakers shocked the world by somehow managing to trade for 25-year-old Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić, who had just led his team to the Finals the previous season. “It was probably the most one-sided trade in NBA history,” Goldstein said before adding: “I talked to [Lakers GM]Rob Pelinka recently and said, ‘How did you keep a straight face during the negotiation?’ and he said, ‘It wasn’t easy, but I’m very experienced in negotiations, so I knew what I had to do.’”Goldstein follows all 30 teams in the league closely. He said that another reason why he likes to cheer against the purple and gold is because he has friends all across the league. “When a visiting team comes in that I only get a chance to watch once or twice during the season, they are much more exciting for me than a team I watch 40 or more times each year,” he said.
How a Fan Makes the Basketball Hall of Fame
The criteria to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a “SuperFan” includes: having a proven history of attending games, a genuine love for basketball demonstrated by deep knowledge and passion, a recognizable and respected reputation within the basketball community and a profound respect and appreciation for the history of the game. If it seems like that description fits Goldstein to a tee, it’s because the SuperFan exhibit, revealed in 2021 as a part of a $25 million-plus renovation, was named after him. Goldstein, who contributed an undisclosed amount of money for the renovation, said he felt deserving of the honor and wanted to give something back to basketball. “I think I’ve seen more games than anyone. I don’t think there’s ever been anyone who travels on a plane every single day during the playoffs to see another game.” Throughout the display at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, are many of Goldstein’s personal items, the most notable of which is a leather basketball-themed Balmain jacket. It was“probably the most expensive jacket” he’s ever purchased, he said.
A Superfan’s 2025 NBA Postseason Takes
Goldstein looks forward to watching how the rest of the playoffs unfold. He thinks the blossoming Oklahoma City Thunder has what it takes to win it all. “I think OKC pulled off one of the greatest achievements in NBA history by winning their games by the highest average of point spread in the history of the league,” Goldstein said. “I was here for Game 1 of the first round when the OKC team won by more than 50 points. Usually, a blowout is a very boring game for me, but the way they played was so beautiful that I’m looking forward to more of that tonight.”
Before our interview began, Goldstein texted a screenshot of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s superstar and one of Goldstein’s favorite players to watch. The 2025MVP race between Gilgeous-Alexanderand the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić, who has won the award three times in the last four years, has been close all season. But, saidGoldstein, whoever wins MVP is a toss-up. And while it’s very difficult to decide, he’d like to see Gilgeous-Alexander win because he’s never won the award before.
Notes From a Life Lived Courtside
Reflecting on the role his basketball fandom has played in his life, Goldstein seems content. “I’ve gotten a tremendous amount of satisfaction from talking to so many young people that come up to me and say, ‘I dream of doing what you are doing.’” Attending as many games as he has in person has also allowed Goldstein to create friendships with people around the league, ranging from owners, general managers, players, coaches and the media. “All of that has added so much to my pleasure from basketball. I consider the basketball people to be my family.”The night after we spoke, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Thunder at the buzzer, thanks to a game-winning three-pointer by Aaron Gordon. I texted Goldstein to ask what he thought of that ending. “Denver stole it! OKC stopped running in the second half. Hartenstein and Holmgren are not physically strong enough to guard Jokic. And OKCfouled Denver too quickly in the last minute,” he responded. Scrolling on my social media feed, I saw a photo from ESPN writer Ramona Shelburne: Courtside, among a sea of black Oklahoma City Thunder T-shirts, was Jimmy Goldstein in his red leather jacket and white python hat, just as he said he would be.
