FEBRUARY 15 2009
AMERICANWAY 27
“Everybody knows him,” says Sam Cas-
sell, a veteran point guardwith the world-
champion Boston Celtics. Cassell used to
play for the Clippers and is good-enough
friendswithGoldstein that he has aphoto-
graphof the twoof them inhis living room.
“He’s a basketball junkie,” Cassell contin-
ues. “Playoff basketball is the best time of
his year. His schedule is more hectic than
our schedule:Utahonenight, thenPhoenix
anothernight, thenL.A. for anight.”
Even though he’s omnipresent around
theNBA, Goldstein is still something of an
enigma. John Black, who is head of pub-
lic relations for the Lakers, says that visit-
ing fans and members of the press are so
intrigued by him that inquiries about
Goldstein outpace those regarding the
team’s other fans — including Jack Nich-
olson, Denzel Washington, and Leonardo
DiCaprio— by a ratio of 10 to one, largely
because people don’t know who he is or
what hedoes.
Clearly wealthy, he is cagey about shar-
ing how he made his money, saying only
that he’s had some good fortune with in-
vestments. He chuckles when he recalls a
Wall Street Journal
story that claimed he
was a billionaire andhadmade his fortune
developing theCenturyCityareaofLosAn-
geles,whichareboth falseclaims,he insists.
“I didn’t ask for a retraction,” he says with
a laugh. His business card lists his name,
his contact information, and three things:
fashion, architecture, and basketball. In
otherwords, it listshis interests,nothowhe
makeshismoney.Despite living inL.A. and
attendingmost of the Lakers and Clippers
games, he has no allegiance to either team.
“Manypeoplewill assume that I’maLakers
fan,”he says. “I say, no, I’mnot aLakers fan.
I’manNBA fan.”
GOLDSTEIN’S
obsession with the NBA
began early, at age 10, whenhis father took
him to see the Milwaukee Hawks, who
have long since moved to Atlanta. It was
the 1950s and crowds were sparse, but he
was immediately smitten. “Everyonewould
be talking about college basketball, and in
mymind, the NBAwas so superior and so
muchmore exciting,” he says, sitting pool-
side on the deck of his home, which of-
fers spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean
and Catalina Island and has been used in
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