How quickly can the owner of a defending championship team spend a sudden windfall of goodwill? James Dolan spent the NBA offseason exploring this hypothesis, and he appears to be a gifted speedrunner.
The New York Knicks owner began his work before the job was even finished last June, inviting Donald Trump to Game 3 of the NBA Finals. It ended up being the team’s only loss during an otherwise torrid 15-game playoff streak. Then, at the team’s victory parade, just days after bankrolling the first title in 53 years for a beloved team from America’s greatest city, Dolan took the microphone and glared. To cap off an event that brought an estimated 2 million fans together in communal joy, the team owner used his time in the pulpit to (predictably) take shots at Mayor Zohran Mamdani and (inexplicably) question the parade participants’ Knicks fandom. “I don’t need your vote,” he told fans, for some reason.
For all the justified criticism leveled at Dolan over the years, he has generally been willing to spend his money on the team. A fan might have reasonably expected that an owner who has already spent big on some disastrous Knicks rosters would happily spend big to return a lucrative, championship-winning roster, even under the current collective bargaining agreement, which punishes big spenders. But that wasn’t the case. Just four days after the Knicks hoisted the trophy, Dolan told WFAN he wouldn’t spend in the second apron to keep the team intact. “We are ready to go further, but there are certain things in the NBA where you would have to be suicidal,” he said. “One of them is the second apron.”
And just 13 days after the team hoisted the trophy, the Knicks front office told the press that they were hamstrung by Dolan’s refusal to spend, as Fred Katz reported at The Athletic:
The Knicks front office knows (that moving into the second apron would limit their ability to make trades and sign free agents). And yet he also understands that diving under the second apron would lead to much of his depth gathering elsewhere, which is why, despite Dolan’s desires, he wants to cross the second apron, according to league sources, who were granted anonymity to speak freely. But so far, Dolan hasn’t changed his mind.
I can’t recall another recent case of a front office publicly clarifying that it wants to do something its owner doesn’t, let alone the front office of a days-old championship team. Due to Dolan’s tight end, center Mitchell Robinson – the longest-tenured Knick, drafted by the team in 2018 – signed with the Boston Celtics on July 1, the second day of free agency. Robinson is an offensive rebounding savant, crucial for past playoffs if less central for this one, but even if he did walk, at least other more essential players could surely be prioritized.
For example: Karl Anthony-Towns, who was the team’s best player during stretches of the playoffs. His camp and eventually Towns himself have spent the last few weeks complaining about contract extension talks. “Simply put, I want to do something that can keep the team together and work with the Knicks and also makes me feel good,” Towns said last week, according to The Athletic. “None of these things are about to happen.” The team announced a few days later that it would hold extension negotiations not only for Towns but for all of its extension-eligible players. Dolan has yet to budge on his spending on the second apron. Players will receive their championship rings during the Knicks’ season opener on Oct. 20 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
At least Dolan is focusing in the right place. On Thursday, Madison Square Garden will host a fundraiser for New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, as a sort of bizarre opener to a Knicks preseason game against the Toronto Raptors. Both men share a deep love for surveillance technologies, such as Wired pointed out. At Le Jardin, according to a lawsuit filed by a former staffer, facial recognition technology is used to identify and track Dolan’s critics; Blakeman promised to line New York City’s border with license plate scanners and facial recognition technology because of Mayor Mamdani’s “radical policies.” Dolan and Dolan-owned entities have already donated millions to Blakeman’s campaign, and for Thursday’s fundraisers, ticket levels are set at $10,000 (“To Attend”), $25,000 (“Friend”) and $50,000 (“Patriot”). The event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and the tipoff will take place an hour later, presumably so New York State’s biggest right-wing donors and safe-haves can sharpen their surveillance reports on Scottie Barnes.
Gn sports
