The Guy Who Never Misses a Game Has a Suggestion

It doesn’t matter that the Lakers are finished. There are more games for Jimmy Goldstein. There are always more games for Jimmy Goldstein.

He has held season tickets to the Lakers and Clippers since each team came to Los Angeles. But it doesn’t stop there. He hits the road for playoff games. He goes to the predraft camps for incoming players. Summertime means summer leagues. I’ve seen this man at a Clipper-Vancouver Grizzly exhibition game--now that’s a fan.

He certainly isn’t one of those come-late, leave-early types who call themselves fans. On most game nights at the Great Western Forum he’s in place at his courtside seat (by the baseline, near the visitors’ bench) before the players come out for warmups. Often players will break ranks from the layup lines to come over and say hi. Coaches chat with him too, on their way to the bench.

Goldstein seems to know everyone in the NBA. He has partied with Dennis Rodman and suggested rule changes to David Stern.

“Many of them come to me, which is really nice, because I’m not the type of person that likes to be pushy when it comes to introductions,” Goldstein says. “The NBA people have seen me around so much, they seem to appreciate my interest in the game.”

He has a knack for showing up everywhere. At the postgame news conferences. In the media workroom. At practices.

“I think that even if I didn’t play the game I would enjoy it because of the athleticism that’s required for basketball, which I think exceeds any other sport,” Goldstein says.

He played at Nicolet High in Milwaukee. That was right around the time he first became interested in the NBA. As a 15-year-old he kept statistics for the radio broadcasts of the Milwaukee Hawks, a team that existed from 1951-1955 and was the forerunner of the St. Louis Hawks, who became today’s Atlanta Hawks.

That bit of dating is as close as he comes to giving his age. It means he is, at the least, in his late 50s.

He’s still in good shape. Kind of an aging rock star look to him. Typical attire is leather pants, a sharp jacket and a cap atop his frizzy white hair.

His occupation is a mystery too. An NBA assistant coach once told me Goldstein was in real estate. Another said the recording industry. “Let’s just say I spend more time on basketball than anything else,” Goldstein says.

He hands me a business card that says:

James F. Goldstein

* Fashion

* Architecture

* Basketball

The receptionist at the number listed on the card answers the phone by saying “Goldstein Properties.”

“Hi, my name is J.A. Adande. I’m with the L.A. Times and . . . “

“We’re not interested.” Click.

Around this time of year, Goldstein often finds himself on the road.

Standing in a tunnel at the Forum at halftime of what would turn out to be the last Laker game of the season, Goldstein rattles off the cities he has already visited during the playoffs.

“I’ve been to Seattle, Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston and Utah,” he says.

A friend comes by and asks him if he’s going to Chicago, the presumed site of the NBA finals.

“I’ll see you there,” Goldstein says.

He has already exchanged greetings with Rick Majerus, the University of Utah coach who’s in town covering the series for a Salt Lake City television station. They’re on a first-name basis, of course. Goldstein knows everyone in the world of basketball.

He’s tight with Rodman. When Rodman was stage-diving into a group of adoring fans at a Chicago nightclub after the Bulls won the championship last year, Goldman was right next to him. (Goldstein didn’t jump).

“I’ve known him since he was with the Pistons,” Goldstein says. “We didn’t know each other very well until one time when he was with San Antonio. He came out of the game in the fourth quarter and there was an empty seat next to me. Instead of sitting on the bench, he came over and sat next to me, and we got acquainted. We talked about some basketball, and the night life in L.A., and a few other things.”

The No. 1 topic to Goldstein, however, is hoops. I wondered what the ultimate fan had to say about the state of the game today.

“I’d like to see more shot attempts and more running to get the scoring up to where it used to be,” he says.

“I’m not worried about the ability of the up-and-coming players to continue the excitement of the game, but I’m concerned about the trend and the style--which I believe the coaches are imposing--which is such an emphasis on defense and ball control. I think the defense has gotten too good and the rules have to be changed to swing the impetus back to the offense.”

The buzzer sounds to announce the end of halftime, and it’s time for Goldstein to head back to his seat. There’s basketball to be played, and he doesn’t want to miss one minute.