We all know who's to blame for the dysfunctional Knicks. There's only one person responsible for that franchise being such a joke. His first name rhymes with "Tim" and his last name rhymes with "Nolan." And unfortunately, he's the owner. So, I hate to break it to you, Knicks fans, but it doesn't look like they're going to stop being the butt of the joke anytime soon. Not as long as he's running things.
For the better part of the last 20 years, the Knicks have made more headlines for off-the-court issues than anything they've done on the basketball court. Since making it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000, they've made the playoffs just five times (one of which was the following year) and won a grand total of one! playoff series (they went 11 years without winning a playoff game). During that same span, they've finished among the three bottom teams in the Eastern Conference six times. They've lost at least 50 games more times (7, with two 49-loss seasons) than they've finished .500 (3). Oh, and did I mention the longest a head coach has lasted is three seasons.
All this for the most valuable franchise in the NBA. According to Forbes, the Knicks are worth $3 billion. And they play in the largest city in America in a historic arena. You would think they'd be one of the marquee teams in the league. That free agents would be lining up to play for them. Yet the exact opposite is true. What free agent in his right mind would want to sign there? Signing with the Knicks is where careers go to die.
Consider the names that have come to the Knicks in recent years and what's happened to them. Carmelo Anthony, who they got in a trade, is one of the best players in the league. But his only chance of ever winning anything is when he plays for Team USA in the Olympics. With the Knicks, though, every other person who's been put around him has been a colossal failure.
This offseason was supposed to be different. Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and others were supposed to help lead a turnaround. They finally had a coach who would embrace Phil Jackson's beloved triangle offense that won him nine NBA Championships. When Phil Jackson, a member of the Knicks' two championship teams who went on to that incredible Hall of Fame coaching career with the Bulls and Lakers, was hired to run the franchise, it looked like they'd finally gotten it and turned the decision-making over to a brilliant, championship-winning basketball mind. Now, according to most observers, Jackson is trying to get himself fired. And who could blame him?
I don't think it's a coincidence that the Knicks' downfall started when Jim Dolan took over the day-to-day management of the franchise in 1999. To put it bluntly, he's a terrible owner. He doesn't know what he's doing, and the level to which he's tone-deaf about everything really is pretty remarkable.
In one of his many missteps, Dolan hired Isiah Thomas as general manager in 2003. Despite the fact that the team sucked, he made Thomas the head coach, too, in 2005. Then Thomas was found guilty of sexual harassment in 2007, costing the Knicks $11 million ($3 million of which Dolan had to pay himself). Did he fire him then? Of course not! Then, in another move that shows just how completely clueless he is, Dolan hired Thomas as President of the New York Liberty in 2015. (Isiah Thomas has to have some sort of incriminating photos of Jim Dolan or something.)
That situation is a microcosm of Dolan's ownership. Then there's the incident with Charles Oakley a few weeks ago. I only know what I've read, so I'm by no means an expert on what happened, but it's probably safe to say it only escalated to the level it did because of Dolan. Charles Oakley is one of the most beloved players in franchise history. He's a link to that great era in the mid-90s where the only two things that came between the Knicks and a title were Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. Yet Dolan has him thrown out of a game, arrested and banned from the arena because he's criticizing him? How old is he?
The Oakley situation once again threw Dolan into the spotlight. And not in a good way. He's already alienated the fans enough. Now he's going after the players that made the franchise great. In the aftermath of the Oakley incident, the various articles pointing out his mistreatment of Knicks alumni includes the greatest player in franchise history. Patrick Ewing is one of the best assistant coaches in the NBA. The Knicks hire a new head coach every other year. Yet Ewing can't even get an interview. That shouldn't be.
Fellow New Yorkers, does all of this sound familiar? It should. Because a lot of people blamed George Steinbrenner's over-involvement for the Yankees' lack of success in the 1980s. And when Steinbrenner was suspended by Commissioner Fay Vincent, it gave Gene Michael the freedom to build the team that would become the late 90s dynasty.
It's even happened with another Dolan-owned team before. He also owns the Rangers, although you'd never know it. Because he doesn't seem to care about the Rangers at all. Which is a good thing. He used to. Dolan used to be as involved with the Rangers as he is with the Knicks, and the results were about the same. Then, starting about 10 years ago after the first lockout, he started letting the people who actually know how to run a hockey team do their jobs, and look what's happened since.
Knicks fans can only hope the same thing will happen with Dolan's other team. Or, maybe he's smarter than the rest of us. After all, when Donald Sterling owned the Clippers, he found a way to make money despite making no attempt to be competitive. Maybe that's what Dolan's doing with the Knicks.
And if that's the case, the best hope Knicks fans might have would be for what happened with the Clippers to happen to them. Because ever since the NBA made Sterling sell the team to Steve Ballmer, the Clippers have been one of the best teams in the league. For Knicks fans, that can't happen soon enough. They deserve so much more than Jim Dolan. They deserve to root for a winner.
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