June 12 (Bloomberg) -- So you think you're a die-hard sports fan? A real insider.

Well, just because you're a regular on the sports-talk radio scene, capable of reciting statistics from memory, doesn't make you a member of the club. Having season tickets, a vanity license plate -- something like GNTZFAN1 -- or a Fathead on the wall doesn't qualify, either.

There are casual fans. There are fanatics. And then there's James F. Goldstein, better known as Jimmy, who spends more than $300,000 a year to feed his hoops habit.

``I've taken it to a level no fan ever has,'' Goldstein said the other day while we were watching the Boston Celtics practice.

He was there, strolling the famed parquet floor. Most fans don't get to watch practice. Then again, most fans don't exchange handshakes and hugs with players, coaches, referees and owners, either.

Everyone associated with the National Basketball Association knows Goldstein. Ask them to pinpoint how they know him, however, and you get blank stares. ``You just know him,'' Commissioner David Stern says.

Goldstein received a hug from the Lakers' Ronny Turiaf and a pat on the back from Luke Walton, who spent years wondering about the guy in the, let's say, avant-garde wardrobe sitting under the basket.

``I like Jimmy,'' Walton said.

Snakeskin on Sideline

As you can tell from the photo attached to this column, Goldstein isn't hard to spot. He's somewhat of a fashionista, evidenced by the hats, scarves, leather and snakeskin. The only times he misses basketball games is when the designers are showing their collections in Milan and Paris.

Kevin Garnett before his press conference made a point to acknowledge Goldstein's presence. Celtics captain Paul Pierce joked about Goldstein's ubiquity, saying that he might as well fly on the team plane.

``Man,'' he said, ``you're everywhere.''

Everywhere is right. Goldstein's life is basketball without borders, to borrow an NBA phrase. At the 2006 World Championships in Tokyo, for instance, Goldstein shared meals and bus rides with the U.S. coaching staff. A real insider.

Goldstein has three season tickets for the Lakers, who are playing the Celtics in the Finals, and two for the Clippers. Playoff time is Goldstein's busy time.

Turner Network Television uses the slogan ``40 games in 40 nights'' to describe its NBA broadcast schedule. It also applies to Goldstein, who thus far has attended 33 games during the postseason. Wherever there's a game.

Basketball First

``Flying commercial gets more difficult every year,'' Goldstein says.

He always pays for tickets. And he almost always sits in the front row.

All Goldstein will reveal about his finances is that he has investments in California that don't require much of his time or attention.

``Basketball comes before business,'' he says. ``I guess nothing has ever come before basketball.''

And that's when it hit me. This isn't some eccentric with an expensive hobby.

This is a man without a family. No wife, no kids, though Goldstein is quick to point out that he still dates 20- somethings, which is why he won't give his age.

Basketball is Goldstein's family. His most important relationships are the ones born from the game, which explains why the Celtics' Sam Cassell keeps a photo of himself and Goldstein in his den.

Sense of Place

This isn't just about basketball. It's about belonging, too.

It's easy to forget how much these games, these teams, can matter to some people. While few have the means or the motivation to do what Goldstein does, that doesn't mean they don't forge bonds.

``I feel as though the NBA has really embraced me,'' Goldstein says.

You can imagine the number of friends and acquaintances he has amassed since joining the NBA family as a non-paid statistician for the announcer of the Milwaukee Hawks, who left Wisconsin in 1955.

Goldstein keeps his city-by-city contact lists on pieces of paper that fit nicely into a leather shoulder bag.

He has become such a fixture on the NBA scene that the players who don't know him actually seek him out to introduce themselves.

`All the Way'

Goldstein digests box scores along with his breakfast. Then he scours the Internet, reading a number of basketball-related Web sites. And then he watches games. All-in-all, Goldstein estimates that he spends as much as eight hours a day on basketball.

``People should find something that interests them and take it all the way,'' he says.

Goldstein grew up in Wisconsin and moved to L.A. in the early 1960s. That probably makes him 60-plus.

``I'm not sure from a physical standpoint when I won't be able to do this anymore,'' he said, emphasizing the drain of travel.

This playoff season Goldstein has crisscrossed the country more than once. Salt Lake City one night, Denver the next. And then maybe Cleveland, Phoenix, New Orleans and Philadelphia. For now, he's back home in Los Angeles. He'll be at Staples Center tonight, sitting in the front row, surrounded by friends and, well, family.

(Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 12, 2008 01:27 EDT