The blame Dolan excuse is getting tired. IMO it's a completely overblown take. As Stern says FA wont be dissuaded to join the Knicks bc of him. Would love to hear from Knicks fans who are NYT readers. Be sure to visit the KFTV YouTube channel
Disagree. Then the blame Trump game is getting tired too, I guess. Culture starts at the top and the Knick culture is toxic. You have to remove the tumor before the patient can begin to heal.
8
The last time in maybe 20 years they played exciting and winning games were win Carmelo was out injured and "Linsanity" took over the garden, during a 7 to 8 game winning streak. Lin was a real find, and no lesson was learned. An overrated ball hog Carmelo returned to "his " losing team," as the pace slowed down. Then, they let Jeremy sign with another team, instead of renegotiating his contract, b/f free agency, then a few years later sign Carmelo to a max no trade contract, despite years of losing.
Here, the facts speak for themselves. Mills, Dolan, recruiting, total incompetence, and mismanagement.
7
This draft and free agent class pretty much represents the Knicks' last chance, and they don't control their own destiny in either case. I am not optimistic.
1
It breaks my 81 year old heart. I remember climbing on my roof to move the antenna to New Haven to watch game 7 of the win over the Lakers and climbing back to move it so I could watch the delayed replay on ABC the same night.
Dolan is poison. Spending isn't his problem. Picking people and letting them make the decisions are.
4
SELL! SELL! SELL!
Never before in sports has a single individual wrecked two historically excellent sports franchises.
As a dedicated NY sports fan -- especially the Yankees, I implore Dolan to sell the Knicks and Rangers and buy the
Boston Red Sox.
8
James Dolan had Charles Oakley dragged out of his seat and handcuffed within Madison Square Garden. Something wrong there? There won't be any championships won within the “Mecca of Basketball" with Dolan at the top.
11
Durant and Irving are great players, but I don't want them for the Knicks unless both first get an attitude-ectomy -- especially Kyrie!
Of course, a hostile take-over of "Dolan Co." would be equally, if not more, appreciated -- so I shall hope as well for the passage of new laws that would enable the hostile acquisition of a privately-held company.
(Then NYC residents -- "Hostile Takers-In-Waiting" -- can become, 'for' the NY Knicks what the residents of Green Bay are 'for' the Packers.)
1
Keep on dreaming !
Both Irving and Durant know that they can make a lot of money anywhere they go. But they can only win if they are surrounded by other good players, a good coach and some stability in the front office.
The Knicks have none of this. Dolan lacks the patience and foresight to build a team year by year and then go for a star free agent. He always wants to hire the star first and expect instant results.
These guys can be rich and happy, or rich or happy. You know which option New York provides.
I hate to say it, but if these guys are smart they will stay away from Dolan.
3
Its been a long and dreary road for this team since Willis Reed hobbled out of the tunnel in 1969-70 season. 1973 being the exception. 15 out of 18 losing seasons under Dolan should tell anyone what they need to know.
2
Durant’s “business and branding goals”. It’s getting harder and harder to like anything about this league. Even for non-Knick fans.
They have my sympathy though.
2
Adding a superstar to an otherwise dysfunctional or mediocre team is no guarantee of success. Just ask some Los Angeles Lakers fans about how well the team performed after adding LeBron James.
5
I am 62. We had season tix in 1972-73 and 73/74. I came of age worshipping this team both for their talent and character. What hits the court today is light years from that
10
The Knicks organization has had a toxic culture for what feels like an eternity. Dolan sets the tone for the organization; it all begins with the top. And a toxic culture erodes whatever might be possible with the assembled talent. Even if a couple or three superstars were to come play for the home team in the Garden, other than a few more wins each year maybe it will be more of the same. The Knicks are toxic. The only way to cleanse them is a full and complete change of culture and that can’t happen as long as Dolan is in place. Now - ban me from the Garden. Not much of a sacrifice until Dolan is gone.
16
The one and only incentive to join the Knicks is the money. Once that contract is signed who cares about playing and winning?
cha ching
1
Why would anyone with a mini-brain sign on to pay NYS taxes when they can go anywhere else (maybe X California) and keep the cha-ching in their own pockets?
Then again, who is moving to NJ, Nick?
2
Nothing will change for the Knicks so long as Dolan owns them. Period.
11
I get Dolan's passion as a "zealot." However, because his passion has the ability to "blind" him from reality, he needs to stay out of the operation of the sports teams he owns. The further away he stays, the better for his teams. If he cannot do this, then it would be in the best benefit of his teams to sell them. Like the saying goes, "if you love someone (in this case his teams) set them free." He is doing a disservice to his teams by being so far out front and disruptive to their environment. My hope is that he will stay away and bury himself in his other endeavors. In the process, by letting better people run his teams, he will bring a winning mentality and the players to achieve that back to New York.
2
Jimmy 'Guitar' Dolan signing Allen Houston (With two bad Knees) to a 150 million dollar contract signaled the beginning of the end. Mistake after mistake just increased the problem. Everyone one knows what they were, from Isaiah (he was a great player, so he must make a great coach and/or GM) on down the line. If big name players want to come to the Knicks I would be amazed. However maybe enough money and the chance to play in the garden can have them turn a blind eye to the obvious. But I doubt it.
7
Would love to see Durant and Irvine in NYC which would be about as successful as Randy Johnson was with the Yankees.
They can't handle the media now like so many of the leagues stars. Pouting, sullen and that's playing for winning teams.
New York's media would destroy both of them, not Dolan. They'd see it as a challenge. Dolan they can handle. NYC's talk radio? I doubt that.
3
Between Woody Johnson (Jets), Dolan (Knicks and Rangers), Wilpon (Mets), Steinbrenner (Yankees), New Yorkers are blessed with the most incompetent owners in sports today....or perhaps in history.
Three of them are heirs to fortunes...perhaps a lesson is to be learned here.
And the Wilpon's, with their embarrassing history with Madoff, should have been evicted from the MLB a decade ago.
10
Correlation is not causation, but it certainly describes the relationship between two things. The two things that correlate here is Dolan and the Knicks losing. I will be surprised to see if KD and Kyrie come to the Knicks given the history of things. "Not a model of intelligent management" is understating the problems with the Knicks.
11
Not unlike Spike, I remember when NYC produced the players recruited for big time college programs, the Rucker league was at the top, the Cage was where you went to watch or play if you were that good and the Garden was the mecca. 1974 was a long time ago. Ownership and management have no clue. At this point I know I am going to die before the Knicks win it all again. I was born in NYC and you don't change your colors but it has been a brutal ride.
7
James Dolan is a walking advertisement for a higher inheritance tax.
32
Since 1999, when JLP was given more control over the Knicks, what have they done?
Why? Mismanagement and bad decisions by JLP. Clearly, as long as this man has too much influence over the Knicks, their fate is doomed. Even KD and Kyrie cannot help.
1
Maybe the challenge would draw them. Otherwise they would make tons of money anywhere. Also, sho says you have to be in NYC to capture brand power?
Why would any superstar want to work for a meddling owner? Why would Zion want to play for the Knicks? Downward spirals end when you hit the bottom, the bottom is a lack of fans.. of course the Knicks can move to London ..
7
Dolan is the worst. Phil Jackson, with all those years of coaching experience (believe me they know what's going on in the front office), made Magic look like a genius in comparison.
But either the Knicks have been over the luxury tax every year, or they have money to attract 2 max players. Can't be both.
Truth is they dumped a ton of salary to free up space to make a splash in free agency. But Dolan's reputation precedes him, and the elite players don't just think about a team's location in the largest markets, they also think about a team's track record re the owners and front office. And if the results are abysmal for year after year while the latter is replaced as the former stays constant, players and their agents know where the fish rots from, and who exactly is said marine creature's head.
Aside, the decision not to extend Kristaps was a brilliant one, first in recent memory. Sure he showed flashes, but he's been more than a bit injury prone, and the history of big guys his size with that medical history is nothing a sane person would invest in. Mark Cuban wanted a European player to replace Dirk Nowitzki, good luck with that. He's another owner ruining his once stellar reputation as a guy who really wants to win. At least he had that reputation once upon a time, Dolan never did. And probably never will, leopards and spots and all that jazz.
5
I don’t blame Knicks fans for dreaming about Irving, Durant and Davis bringing glory to that other Garden. But as a Celtics fan, I have to tell you it’s wishful thinking. Irving’s outbursts earlier in the season are probably an attempt to strengthen his bargaining position in Boston. It would be career suicide to go to that carnival show in New York where the owner gets into fights with fans and talent goes to die. Boston has superior ownership and management, a stock draft picks and a young nucleus of talent that will make them perennial championship contenders. If you were Irving, why take that gamble?
5
I grew up in NYC and moved away nearly 30 years ago...the Knicks fans deserve all the misery they get for supporting the current ownership.
The Knicks fans that buy tickets and merchandise from Dolan make me embarrassed to call myself a New Yorker.
11
My position on whether Dolan will cause the Knicks more problems is simple: His old company Cablevision owned MSG while campaigning to prevent a rival stadium from going up in Manhattan—he should be serving two antitrust sentences in prison, not mismanaging a team from courtside!
16
The best for Nicks' fans would be Dolan that sells the team. He should be persona non grata at the Garden
10
As a transplanted Knicks fan who has lived in the SF Bay Area since 1991, I can tell you that this fantasy that KD will go to the Knicks is a pipe dream. Durant was the first Warrior to buy a home in San Francisco, and the new arena is practically dedicated to him. The catastrophe of Dolan's reputation outside NYC is well established. Until he sells, the Knicks will not be successful. No one wants to end up like Carmelo Anthony. Certainly not KD.
15
If Dolan isn’t already the worst owner for the past 20 years, and if he get’s Durant, Irving, and Williamson and still can’t win a title, he will definitely be considered the worst owner for all of NBA perpetuity.
5
Nobody in their right mind would want to play for the Knicks....it's not just Dolan, but the vicious NYC sports media and sports radio. I can't imagine somebody sensitive like Durant would want to subject himself to that.
The Warriors are going to be able to pay Durant more than any other team, which means somebody is going to have to blow him away to get him.
8
Dolan is and will remain the nightmare for Knicks fans.
The guy is as competent at owning a basketball team as Trump is at basic human decency.
22
"Can Dolan make the team successful again?"
NO
Why should anyone expect a miraculous turnabout from the pattern he has set? And repeated over and over again!
Isiah, Jackson, a series of hapless coaches, and his own presence, which hangs over the Garden and the Knicks like some malign miasma, creating a nasty, antagonistic atmosphere for players, coaches, and fans!
Malign Miasma Dolan.
3
James Dolan is the Donald Trump of the Knicks.
No good will happen while he's in office.
18
How many talented players have gone to play with the Knicks, only to have their careers shriveled in the Knick black hole of failure? The only reason a player would go there is if he wants an early summer vacation with no playoff games to play.
Its the curse of the demolition of the old Penn Station. The last time the Knicks won the NBA title, I had just graduated college. I am now in my 70s.
7
With Dolan involved we should all pray that the Knicks brain trust cedes all player acquisition decisions to a chimpanzee with a dart board. I would be particularly happy if Dolan were forced to let Charles Oakley make all the decisions.
3
These players can go anywhere and make more money than most of us only imagine. Why would they risk almost-certain damage to their reputations by playing for this franchise? James Dolan may be the worst team owner in professional sports. Add to that the ever-carping tabloids and pompous sports-radio bloviators, and you have a miserable place to play.
3
Oh, please take Irving, the part-time dazzler with the full-time personality disorder. Celts made it to Game 7 of the Finals last year withOUT him. Never needed him. This year, he demeaned the younger, more consistent players and yells at the press. He announced he wanted to go to NY the minute Boston signed him. He signed for 2 years. Was out the entire first year getting an old knee injury repaired again and out this season with a "sore" hip, "sore" corneas", "sore" knee, "sore" shoulder. You can probably find him in some dark sticky night club Easter morning with "Pastor" Carl Lentz who runs a megachurch for megalomaniacs.
The guy's weird beyond words. But more importantly, he's unreliable. Good luck with him!
14
Since when did the Park Slope Paper become the New York Daily News?
The owner of the Knicks is a malignant narcissist, and as such can only destroy. His impulsiveness is out of control and leads him to make imbecilic decisions: the overriding of Walsh to push through that ridiculous Melo trade being just one of oh so many during his tenure. Look at the company he has kept: Harvey Weinstein, Isiah Thomas (do we forget he threw his own daughter under the bus to save his behind?), and the list is quite long beyond that.
As others have said: history is bound to repeat itself with James Dolan.
12
The Knicks have been pretty much unwatchable for 40 years. Even the teams that managed to contend played brutish, ugly ball, which continues to this day.
Sell the team, Dolan! (He can't kick me off the comments page, can he?)
10
History may not repeat, but Dolan does...
5
To me, Durant and Irving would seem like mercenaries, not true Knicks, just as LeBron doesn't seem like a Laker. It would be a hollow victory to win with hired hands. Hit it lucky and get Zion or another top draft choice and develop what they have, that's how I'd like to see them go.
8
@Robert Griffin Pray tell me what a "true Knick" is. In the old NBA players were drafted and traded by a team's general manager. Does one become a "true Knick" only by these actions? But for some time some to much of this power has been transferred to players, depending on how good they are. That is the reality now. Even if a team drafts a collection of stars--which is extremely difficult-- it is also very difficult to keep them together for very long.
@WBS: While only in perception, a "True Knick" is the player who does more than put bodies in the seats at The Garden.
They play most if not all their careers with (in this case) the Knicks. They play their hearts, souls, and in some cases, injury-riddled bodies into the game; creating indelible images and associations with this team; far more so, than, say, players like Shaq;Charles Barkley; or even LeBron.
Granted, in today's NBA, not everybody can be like a Michael Jordan;a Magic Johnson; a Reggie Miller; a Karl Malone or John Stockton; a Larry Bird and so on. But, Walt Frazier; Willis Reed; Dave DeBusschere; Bill Bradley; Patrick Ewing; Charles Oakley; John Starks; and even Bernard King, created longer-lasting legacies for themselves as "True Knicks," with or without a championship.
3
Bob - you are so old school. The days of building a successful franchise through the draft, player development and insightful GM trades are long gone. Its a players league now. Kerr is pretty hands off with the Warriors and focuses his energy and intellect on creating an environment and culture where the players can thrive and do their thing. Not an easy task with the lineup out there, but it is working in terms of wins and titles. The Knicks are the opposite of GS. Their owner spreads toxicity and dictates control rather than creating a supportive environment where talented people can thrive. Until Dolan sells personnel do not matter because no one can be successful in a poisoned environment.
4
Totally agree with "Rick - NY NY" Jim Dolan has been a total disaster as an owner of the Knicks as well as MSG and the Rangers. From the Isiah Thomas sexual improprieties law suit disaster(plus the awful B-Ball decisions /and how come David Stern did not force the Dolans to sell the team???). To the Phil Jackson disaster and his ongoing terrible draft choices. Why would any top player want to come to the Kicks? Even if they did somehow Jim Dolan would mess that up! BTW I became a Knicks fan when I went to my very first Knick Game in 1954 where the Knicks were 30 points dogs to the Celts and lost against the spread.
4
What a dirty knife in the back Mills plunged into Phil? Excuse me but what has Mills accomplished in his professional career? Nada. A careerist man in the gray suit who has this record of mediocrity and losing doesn't even get into the conversation with a Hall of Fame coach. The "style of play?" Are you for real? The Lakers and the Bulls won championships with that "style of play." Unfortunately, the Knicks, led by that overpaid, overweight, underperformer Melo refused to make a good faith effort to learn the system. The results were predictable.
Dolan...Melo...Mills ...all cut from the same cloth.
Losers, all.
5
not a huge NBA fan, but I will be thrilled to see uncle drew (of keep my life private fame and flatearther moron) leave Boston. Big whoop scoring against the pacers. building team chemistry, shot selection, and ball distribution are not his forte. qualities of a good leader and a long playoff run. Tatum is a lot more fun to watch and root for. hopefully he stays and isn't dealt.
5
Durant could go anywhere. Why would he want to go to the Knicks? Frankly, he’d be stupid to leave the Warriors, but if he did he might want to play with Lebron James in LA, before he joins the Knicks, even if the Lakers are having their own problems.
2
It's been evident for some time that having one or even two great players doesn't guarantee year-after-year success in the NBA. The quality of the front office is perhaps the single greatest determinant of whether a team sustains winning seasons or sinks more often than not to the bottom. Many factors go into a winning culture, but as any NBA veteran will tell you, the culture is set from the top down. Despite their huge advantages of playing in New York and the wonderful precedents of teams during the heydays of Walt Frazier, Patrick Ewing et al, the Knicks have been a loser for virtually all of James Dolan's tenure. Their revolving door of leadership speaks for itself. Men like Dolan don't really change, despite promises of change. (Ask Phil Jackson.) For the Knicks to achieve a turnaround, Dolan needs to get out of the business of trying to run a basketball team. Even from afar.
9
Durant would be out of his mind to leave Golden State for the mess called the New York Knicks.
The Warriors have (in whatever order you want) everything the Knicks lack: 1. a great winning team and selfless/team ethic; 2. a nucleus of skilled players with at least 2 or 3 more championships in them; 3. the best coach by far in the NBA; 4. really, really good ownership, especially compared to the hugely flawed and imperious Dolan; 5. a brand spanking new, state of the art arena to play in; and 6. frankly, a better region to live in than New York City.
13
@Cazanoma As a life long Knicks fan, I'm hoping you're right. The mess must first stink so badly that fans will finally boycott Dolan and force him to sell. Only then....
5
For the fourth year in a row. the Knicks are the NBA's most valuable team. Doesn't that fact have something to do with fan support? If fans are so angry, upset, and frustrated, why do they continue to support the team and show up in record numbers?
9
@kjd Knicks fans show up at the Garden in spite of Jim Dolan and the poor play of the team. It's the Garden, and it's an exciting place to hang out for a few hours. The Knicks organization has been dysfunctional for many years. Maybe that will change with the current senior management. But Dolan will still be there. That's the problem. He is the worst owner in professional basketball, and everyone knows it -- players, fans, and other basketball executives. What Dolan is interested in is keeping fannies in those 19,000 seats for every home game. Whether the Knicks put a good product on the court every night is besides the point.
2
@kjd It is much easier to fill up 19,000 seats when the arena is in the largest market in the country. That geographical fact also makes cable TV revenue much larger and more predictable. Chicago and LA also have these built-in advantages. It is not because Knick fans are more loyal. There are just more of them. Transplant the Knick franchise to Detroit and see what you have.
1
We have been through this before. The media talks about the great players about to sign with the Knicks because they how can they not play in New York and then they sign elsewhere and the Knicks continue to be among the worst teams in the NBA.
I grew up with the Knicks and can only hope for better fortunes. It is just not going to happen with the current ownership.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, a young, energetic and exciting team is taking root. Watch out for the Nets in coming years!!!!
5
@Seth I grew up with the Knicks too, and I couldn't agree with you more. In fact, I go so far back, Sweetwater Clifton was the center, Ernie Vanderweighe and Harry Gallatin (I could be off an era or two) were theforwards, and Dick McGuire and Vince Boryla were the guards. And Bob Cousy and George Mikan were certified Knick killers!
"Will Dolan, the unpredictable and imperious owner of the team, find a way to mess it all up?"
Yes.
This has been another edition of "Simple Answers to Simple Questions."
32
@Choska: reminds me of Mad Magazine's "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions"...
1
Kevin Durant is not going to leave the Warriors. He and Steph Curry are the centerpieces of the best team in the NBA. They have a brand new arena for next season. They have a chance to make history over the next 5 years or so. This opportunity will not happen on the Knicks. Durant is also very much involved in venture capital investing in the San Francisco Bay Area. Finally, if it were only money he wanted: the Warriors will be able to offer him more money than any other team.
12
"Will Dolan Be the Nightmare?"
What do you mean, "will be"? He is - and he has been throughout his time as owner of the Knicks. In the last 18 seasons, the Knicks have made the playoffs only 4 times and have only 1 playoff series win to show for it. I read somewhere that the Knicks have the worst record of any NBA team over the 20 seasons since last reaching the Finals in '99. He is the worst owner in the NBA, by a lot, and has either no interest or no clue when it comes to hiring competent management.
And people seriously think that either Durant or Irving, let alone both, would have any interest in signing with them this summer? First of all, Durant is re-signing with Golden State if the Warriors 3-peat in June, because only one team in NBA history (the Russell-era Celtics) has won 4 straight titles (those Celtics won 8 in a row from '59 to '66) and there is no way he will pass up the chance to be part of only the second team ever to do this.
But even if they don't 3-peat, one thing should be clear; Durant (3 Finals appearances, 2 titles) and Irving (3 Finals appearances, 1 title) have plenty of experience with winning and have no interest in playing for a losing team whose leadership inspires no confidence in a turnaround. That's where the Knicks are now, and that's why they shouldn't expect a free-agent bonanza this summer.
32