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For Bradley's presidential run, however, his basketball past has served as a cornerstone of his bio -- an effective fund-raising device and a way to add some flash to an otherwise humorless and even gloomy mien.

Team Bradley's all-star lineup A look at the players behind Bill Bradley's Madison Square Garden fund-raising extravaganza.

Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, Bradley and his campaign pulled out all the stops for his "Hoopla! Bill Bradley back in the Garden" event. Roughly 7,500 people paid anywhere from $50 to $1,000 a seat to attend, raking in somewhere near $1.5 million for the campaign. The event featured former basketball greats -- including six of Bradley's fellow 1973 world champion New York Knicks -- as well as celebrities from the worlds of women's athletics and modern cinema.

Among the celebrities who turned out for Hoopla! were former Knicks Willis Reed, Jerry "Mr. Memory" Lucas, Dave DeBusschere, Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, Dick Barnett and Walt "Clyde" Frazier; other NBA superstars like Julius "Dr. J." Erving, Moses Malone, Bob Cousy, Oscar "the Big O" Robertson, Dolph Schayes and John Havlicek; the WNBA's Rebecca Lobo and Ann Meyers-Drysdale; and celebrities like Spike Lee, Harvey Keitel, John McEnroe and Ethan Hawke.

Before the event actually began, Matt Labash of the Weekly Standard, Joey Anuff of Suck and I sneaked into the locker room area, where the stars were being lined up for their introductions.

"Why are you endorsing Bill Bradley?" I asked Spike Lee.

"Some people might assume that it's because he played for the only two world championship Knicks teams, but that's not the case," said Lee, whose courtside antics on behalf of the Knicks are as overwrought and clichéd as many of his films.

"I've always liked Bill Bradley, and we're not talking on the court. As a senator from New Jersey, things he's tried to do, and what he's voted for, and what he hasn't voted for, as this country heads into the next century, [these make him] the best candidate."

"What are the things he's saying that appeal to you?" I asked.

"I think he understands that diversity is one of the things that this country has to deal with," Lee said. "The complexion of this country is changing every day. And, you know, some people want to cling and hold on to how it was back in the day, but you know, we're not going back that way. I think he understands that."

"What issues does he talk about that you like?" I asked.

"Education," Lee said. "Health care -- just tremendous. You know, I'm going to vote for him."

Next page | Ethan Hawke: "I was always a big fan"