Another load of Dolan’s Madison Square Garbage Handling of George Floyd’s death again shows toxic climate
James L. Dolan’s response to the death of George Floyd, or lack of response, doesn’t tell you everything about why the Knicks have become what they’ve become – as big a joke as there is in professional team sports in this country – with Dolan in charge over the past 20 years. But it still tells you plenty about Dolan’s Knicks. Not just what they’ve become. But who they are.
You know how it all rolled out. The Knicks said nothing while just everybody in pro basketball except the Syracuse Nationals was issuing statements about Floyd’s death. And when we finally did hear something, it was because an email Dolan had sent out to Madison Square Garden employees was leaked to the public.
The email read this way, in part:
“We know that some of you have asked about whether our company is going to make a public statement about the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. I want you to know, I realize the importance of this issue. Therefore, I want you to understand our internal position. This is a turbulent time in our country. The coronavirus and civil unrest have taken their toll on our way of life. We at Madison Square Garden stand by our values of a respectful and peaceful workplace. We always will.” He wasn’t done.
“As companies,” the email went on, “in the business of sports and entertainment, however, we are not any more qualified than anyone else to offer our opinion on social matters…..”
It was the kind of brick so many of Dolan’s basketball players have been throwing at the basket since he took over full control of the team, effectively at the start of this century. These, of course, are two decades during which the Knicks have lost more games than anybody in their sport, and won a grand total of one playoff series.
Understand something: Dolan was only being asked to speak up here about an issue and tragedy that had galvanized an entire country. And could not even get that right. Maybe he was worried about offending his pal, the current president of the United States. But there was so much blowback on the email that Dolan then came back with another non-response:
“Yesterday, I made a sincere attempt to provide my perspective on a very difficult issue, one that has no easy answers. I know how important this topic is to so many, and I do not want there to be any confusion about where I as an individual, or we as a company stand. So let me be clear: we vehemently condemn and reject racism against anyone, period.”
This time around, on the do-over, he sounded like someone solemnly informing his fan base that he thinks the ocean is remains deep. And prompted Spike Lee, as famous a Knicks fan and as loyal a Knicks fan as there has ever been, to once again speak up and out about the owner of the team. You probably remember that Dolan got sideways with Spike this season because of a beef about what entrance at the Garden Spike was allowed to use. What entrance? Dolan should have been so thrilled Spike was still buying his courtside tickets and supporting his pathetic basketball team that Dolan should have been willing to carry him piggy-back over the Brooklyn Bridge and up to 33rd Street.
Here, by the way, is was a part of Spike’s response to Dolan’s response to George Floyd. Or lack of response. Or whatever it was.
“That sounds like the guy in the White House commenting on what happened in Charlottesville, that there were good guys on both sides,” Spike said. “For me, that’s the same thing. That’s the same mentality.”
No, that’s the Knicks. Who have not paid New York property taxes, thanks to Ed Koch, for the past 37 years, costing the city a cool $555 million. Now, with a chance to help speak for the city about George Floyd, Dolan instead says nothing, or makes distinctions about racism, despite owning a team in a predominantly African-American sport.
Dolan’s Knicks: Who escorts old Knick Charles Oakley out of the Garden, and then suggests he has a drinking problem. Who brings Latrell Sprewell, who once helped Oak take the Knicks back to the NBA Finals, back to the Garden and sits him next to the owner like a prop. They can’t even find the right words about George Floyd, when the whole country is marching about Floyd and shouting about him and making protest about race and social justice feel like an American sacrament over the past couple of weeks.
You want to know what the