James Dolan, Madison Square Garden, and the New York Knicks have been at the forefront of sports news as of late– and not for any good reasons.The continuous dysfunction within the Knicks organization over the past couple of decades continues to be on full display, as James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, was confronted by a fan that begged him to sell the team. This came after a loss to the Sacramento Kings when a fan went up to Dolan after the game and told him to “sell the team.”
Dolan then ejected the fan and subsequently banned him from Madison Square Garden. In an age of smartphones and everything being caught on video, the confrontation was caught on camera.
A fan told Knicks owner James Dolan to sell the team…
So Dolan banned the fan from MSG. Wow. pic.twitter.com/Se9lz4Pkrw
— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldABC) March 10, 2019
In the coming week Dolan went on the Michael Kay Show on 98.7 ESPN New York and tried to defend himself as such;
Knicks & Rangers owner James Dolan explains why he banned a fan for life from Madison Square Garden. pic.twitter.com/RmSE0TnO9k
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 12, 2019
Uncertain Future Persists
Just when everyone thought the Knicks were on the correct path of rebuilding and tanking for the future, this situation gets thrown into the mix in the most ‘Knicks’ way ever. Going into this offseason, the Knicks have lined themselves up to get a top five draft pick as well as having two max free agent slots, a situation that any team that is “tanking” can only dream of. While players like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have flirted with the idea of calling Madison Square Garden their home, nothing will be certain until the Knicks take the floor on opening night of the 2019-2020 season.
Brooklyn is Where New York Wants to Be
Amidst all the dysfunction, perhaps the most detrimental and underlying issue the Knicks are going to face is the success of their ‘little brother’– the Brooklyn Nets.
After many years of recovering from what many see as one of the worst trades in NBA history (sending multiple first-round picks to the Celtics only to win one playoff series), the Nets have more than found their way back to relevancy, becoming a back-end playoff team in the East. With the emergence of D’Angelo Russell, Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie and many others, the Nets have progressed from a 28-54 team in 2018 to a team that can possibly flirt with a 45-win season and a spot in the playoffs.
So how does this affect the Knicks? Well, think about it, if you were a free agent that was able to get max money from a team fresh off tanking or a team that has a young core, great coach and already has seen the playoffs, where would you go? This is a question that some of the top-tier free agents will have to ask themselves this summer and it will be the Knicks’ job to convince them otherwise.
All this in a time where the Knicks’ owner is banning fans for their outrage against the team, yikes.
Charles Oakley wants Adam Silver to step in and discipline James Dolan. https://t.co/BFfOYLmSKJ pic.twitter.com/owHHTpzSob
— theScore (@theScore) March 12, 2019
