KNICK NOTES
Owner James Dolan raised some eyebrows last month when he met with Knicks beat writers and had a curious response about whether he planned to remain the Knicks’ owner.
Following last week’s purge, Cablevision is holding a board of directors meeting today in which discussions on whether the corporation would explore selling the Garden’s properties might be discussed.
Last month, Dolan acknowledged the changes going on within the ranks have made things unsettled, as well as reports he and his father Charles Dolan had a falling out.
Last Thursday, Charles Dolan replaced four members of the Cablevision board. Business reports stated the new blood may investigate selling off some of the assets.
When asked if he expected to remain the owner of the Knicks for the next several years, Dolan responded: “Now that’s a really good question. As far as I know I’m going to be. Do you ever read the rest of the newspaper you write for? It’s called the business section. If you read that, the company is clearly going through changes. I know of no plan to change the ownership for the Knicks or change my position at my Garden. I would have something to say about it if we did. But we’ve had no discussions about that.”
Financial analyst Craig Moffet was quoted by AP as saying, “This has taken a turn from the simply strange to the truly bizarre. This appears to be an escalation not just of a boardroom battle but a father-and-son conflict.”
Nearly two weeks ago, Dolan took on another $30 million in future payroll in two trades that were widely panned. The Knicks’ payroll this season is a league-high $103 million and they may not make the playoffs.
The Knicks did not have any comment, and Dolan was not at last night’s game against the Warriors.
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Warriors GM Chris Mullin isn’t exactly in the running for Executive of the Year. The Brooklyn product has actually made things worse, as the Warriors are in the running for the top pick in the draft. Mullin made the controversial decision of firing Eric Musselman and hiring a novice NBA coach in Mike Montgomery of Stanford. He also let Erick Dampier go and re-signed dud Adonal Foyle.
