| USA TODAY
NBA fans did a double-take Wednesday night when they saw Spike Lee appear on-screen of the 2020 virtual draft.
A very excited Lee was seen celebrating with the friends and family of Cole Anthony, the University of North Carolina product who was selected 15th overall by the Orlando Magic.
But why was the legendary filmmaker in Anthony’s living room, seemingly a part of the family?
Lee’s connection to Anthony appears to be through his father, Greg Anthony, who spent 11 seasons in the NBA, including four with the New York Knicks.
Lee, a notable Knicks fan, was a courtside fixture at Madison Square Garden when Greg Anthony played for the team in the 1990s.
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Greg Anthony, who played point guard, contributed to some of the Knicks’ best seasons, including an NBA Finals appearance in1994.
Anthony’s mother Crystal McCrary McGuire (formerly Anthony), also has family ties with Lee. McGuire co-wrote the fiction novel “Gotham Diaries” in 2004 with Tonya Lewis Lee, the wife of Spike Lee.
Contact Analis Bailey at aabailey@usatoday.com or on Twitter @analisbailey.
