Life as a fan of the New York Knicks is a constant struggle. The dawn of every day brings a sort of public disaster or a meltdown for the franchise. It’s been so long since I’ve doubted that Knicks fans will even remember what it’s like to be happy with the status of their team.
The most recent problem that emerged was the extraordinarily weak statement released yesterday by James Dolan, which was a day late and still a dollar less. Max Kellerman tore up Dolan and Knicks, saying that an elementary school boy could have written it in five minutes. Brian Windhorst went to First Take today and told the crew that the fallout has extended far beyond the public beating in the media.
The Knicks have not been good since the early part of the decade and have rarely been a desirable destination as a free agent under Dolan. But it has always been difficult to count them because, well, it’s the Knicks and they play at Madison Square Garden. It’s the basketball mecca, although it’s been a long time since the hometown team played like that. The generation of players who came after Michael Jordan saw his reverence for MSG and tried the same thing.
Now we live in a new world. One in which Dolan’s mistakes have accumulated to an almost insurmountable level. One where players worry a lot about messing up the feeling that “it’s not his place” to publish a statement about the murder of George Floyd, then a week later that he couldn’t have looked more dishonest.
Just a stellar player to voluntarily join the Knicks to make them cool again. But over time, it seems increasingly likely that James Dolan’s spot may be too much for what was one of the NBA’s most proud franchises.