Knicks owner James Dolan stepped down from his positions on the NBA Board of Governors’ advisory/finance committee and media committee several months ago, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Dolan also informed the league at that time that he no longer intends to attend Board of Governors meetings.
“Given all that has occurred lately, I have come to the conclusion that the NBA neither needs nor wants my opinion,” Dolan wrote in a July memo to commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s other 29 team owners, per Wojnarowski.
“My hope is that the Knicks will be treated equally and fairly as all other NBA teams,” Dolan stated. “… As you know, I am very busy with all my duties at MSG family of companies. I need to apply my time where I can be most productive.”
As Wojnarowski explains, Dolan has been “increasingly critical” of both Silver and the NBA on several issues. Notably, sources tell ESPN, he has expressed dissatisfaction with elements of the league’s revenue sharing system, which requires high-earning teams like the Knicks to share their revenues with smaller-market teams.
Since resigning from his Board of Governors committee positions, Dolan and the Knicks launched a lawsuit against the Raptors seeking more than $10MM in damages over an issue that would typically be arbitrated by the NBA. The suit, which alleges that a former team employee illegally took files with him to his new position in Toronto, accused Silver of bias due to his friendship with Raptors chairman Larry Tanenbaum and Tanenbaum’s position as chairman of the Board of Governors.
Although Knicks general counsel Jamaal Lesane is now representing the franchise at Board of Governors meetings in place of Dolan, the Knicks owner didn’t give up his voting power, according to Wojnarowski.
As Woj points out, the Knicks have been the lone dissenter in two recent votes that otherwise would have been unanimous — Dolan voted against approving the sale of the majority share of the Hornets to Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin; he also voted against WNBA expansion to San Francisco.
While ESPN’s report may not provide a full picture of everything going on behind the scenes here, Dolan’s recent actions – including those dissenting votes and his claim that the league “neither needs nor wants my opinion” – suggest he’s staging a passive-aggressive protest against the NBA due to his unhappiness about certain policies. That wouldn’t be out of character for a team owner who has a reputation for pettiness.
I would say this is the Knicks being the Knicks, but it’s been well documented that Silver plays favorites and doesn’t treat all franchises equally. He is documented as being friends with that Raptors official in this case. When Hinkie was the GM of the Sixers he worked constantly to try and stop them from openly tanking and got Harris to bring on Colangelo who sabotaged things to get his son the job. This past season the Mavs were investigated for tanking the last few weeks of the season while the Blazers tanked hard for a 3rd straight season with no investigation or punishment. Then you have some teams punished for tampering during free agency while others aren’t.
Even now they don’t enforce the new policy for getting stars to play they do it on a case by case basis. Even the suspension of Ja Morant there was all the reporting that part of the length for the current suspension was due to the fact that Ja going on live after meeting with Silver the first time made him look bad. Meanwhile, Bridges hasn’t been punished for violating his restraining order and throwing billiard balls at his ex’s car with kids inside. You can say it’s an ongoing investigation criminally, but there were no charges after Ja brought the gun on the live so it’s clear charges aren’t required for a second punishment.
The thing with the Bridges investigation is that any punishment from the NBA would immediately work in his favor as far as accusations of biasing the case would happen. They’re waiting because they don’t want or need to get involved in a legal fracas before that happens. Bridges will be found guilty; with video evidence it’s basically a slam-dunk. But the NBA can’t stick their foot into the legal case without causing problems for themselves. Ja’s first suspension happened *after* the police made it known that they weren’t pressing criminal charges. Same thing. And the second wasn’t involving a criminal action at all unless the gun was unlicensed (which it wasn’t), just a PR issue.
The NBA doesn’t do the games played policy on a case-by-case basis; there are exceptions *written into the policy* and every star who has missed the games has been covered by one or more of those exceptions. That’s not the same thing at all. And you can thank the NBPA for making those exceptions a reality. They were the ones who pushed for them.
The entire Raptors/Knicks affair is bs and everyone knows it. If the Knicks had any data of value relative to other teams, they wouldn’t have sucked for so long, especially not in the alleged timeframe. Dolan’s just being his petty self. He’s full of sh*t about anything that doesn’t go his way. See his current illegal use of facial recognition technology to bar specific persons from MSG, because he’s trying do duck out of an active lawsuit against him. I don’t have any issue with the Knicks. But James Dolan is a manchild.
I get what you’re trying to say, but you need to actually get your facts straight first, dude. It’s not like Silver or the NBA are blameless or faultless. But you’re directing your ire at the wrong target *in this case*.
F*** Miles Bridges, also, just so we’re clear.
Ok, how about the history of Silver vs Hinkie and why did Dallas get investigated for tanking a week or two when the Blazers tanked half a season, their third year in a row doing that?
The Sixers weren’t trying to compete at all, which is the point of sports leagues. They were actively trying to lose as much as possible, as badly as possible, and then reap the rewards of doing nothing positive for years. I don’t have a problem with Silver taking issue with it. I felt the same way. The Process may work out if Embiid brings Philly a title, but imo, it shouldn’t. You can do a good job of drafting without f*cking up everything for years just to get top picks. And it showed in Ben Simmons flaming out, Markelle Fultz being cast aside, and Evan Turner being a wasted pick because he *tried too hard to win games and got booed by Sixers fans*, which is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. The Sixers weren’t trying to develop a team, they were trying to find a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory like they were Charlie Bucket. Embiid is the only one who has worked out for the Sixers long-term.
The Blazers tanked by sucking or being injured. The Mavs tanked by intentionally holding their stars out of a win-or-go-home game. They were still eligible for the play-in, and threw the game on purpose to get a lottery pick and avoid having to give it up, as it was owed to the Knicks iirc. That’s the difference. Yes, Lillard was held out longer than absolutely necessary at the end of last season, but he did have a legitimate injury and he and the Blazers mutually decided that he should stay out to heal properly. Neither Doncic or Irving had that excuse. Nor did they have younger players whose development they could theoretically prioritize over them if they were intent on tanking. It’s one thing to “tank” when you’re already in a terrible position without much hope, and another entire to throw winnable games that have an impact on playoff position.
You seriously just make up shhh as you go along. No cares about a lawsuit among billionaires. Especially your uninformed ares……..
“If the Knicks had any data of value relative to other teams, they wouldn’t have sucked for so long, especially not in the alleged timeframe.”
Really ????????
The reality ———
According to the Knicks, Ikechukwu Azotam, who is now the Raptors’ head of video and an assistant player development coach, used his position with the Knicks, which he held from 2020-23, to steal “play frequency reports, a prep book for the 2022-23 season, video scouting files and materials and more” before joining the Raptors.
link to cbssports.com
I know you try, and think you are making a point. Only lies and BS make the point that you are makeup artist ….. “you feel me”
The Blazers tanked by just being bad, which has always been acceptable. The Mavs pretty much publicly admitted to trying to lose games on purpose which is very much not allowed.
That’s not true they sat Dame a whole bunch. Look back plenty was written about them tanking him and him acknowledging that it could get them a higher pick. OKC did this a number of years with SGA injuries where he missed the ends of seasons. This idea that openly admitting you are tanking vs lying about it is true in terms of treatment from the league. All that does is show actions don’t matter only optics for punishment. Again, that isn’t across the board equal punishment that is treating different teams differently.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd basically admitted to the tank. Kidd mentioned it was a decision from management to sit all the Mavericks key players, something he described as an opportunity to take a step back to take one forward in the future.
When the Mavs tank, they tank hard.
it’s extremely noticeable. 3-4 players sit at a time.
Bridges was punished for a year already.
This is what happens when you try to take down corruption and evil agenda corporations
Dolan deserves pretty much any crap he gets, tbh. The Knicks, no, but James Dolan? F*** yes. If he were less rich, he’d be in prison. Abject scumbag.
One step closer, now if Dolan would just sell the team it would be the best thing that happened to the Knicks since the NBA fixed the lottery so that they got Patrick Ewing.
“James Dolan Resigned” had me really going.
Ditto. Thought Xmas came early for a second, only to be disappointed, yet again.
I love watching baby dolan get spanked.
Why would anyone care about billionaire arguments. It’s clear he stole files. What else you need to know. I’m sure all of you are fine with someone you know stealing from you.
I’d be more concerned about Dolan being the only one voting against a team in SF. Why would the NBA do that. Warriors already play there. First city that gets a new team (and there will be two new ones to balance it out). Has to be Seattle
I think you misread. It was a WNBA team in SF.
Tanking to me is what Mavs did to Knicks. And what Spurs did to land Duncan. Just remember Blazers tanked for Bowie. Not an exact science …….
Tanking doesn’t bother me. It’s part of the game. Sixers are still proving it doesn’t work all the time. So is OKC. Tanking is a process a weapon. And doesn’t get you guaranteed results. It’s the work and grind that get you results. I know in a rebuild. It’s best to do it with top picks. It’s just a fact. So again tanking is just part of the game.