Dolan stunt fails to hide chaos
The game was a few minutes old when James Dolan waddled out to his courtside seat, towered over by the “fans” around him. Latrell Sprewell walked in front of him, Bernard King and Vin Baker behind him.
All that was missing was for the former players to be covered in flashing neon lights beckoning the crowd to look here and ignore everything else your mind is telling you.
Sprewell was persona non grata at Madison Square Garden since he was traded in 2003 and returned two days before Christmas that year, scoring 31 points and punctuating them by running toward Dolan and screaming taunts and curses at him. But in an amazing coincidence, just days after Dolan had Charles Oakley dragged out of the arena, Sprewell took a seat next to Dolan.
After the ugly episode with Oakley in which he was banned from the Garden, Dolan and his public relations crew filled the seats with former Knicks to act as human shields — Sprewell, Baker, King, Larry Johnson, Kenny Walker, Gerald Wilkens, Herb Williams, John Wallace and Bill Bradley. As a counter, Spike Lee sat courtside wearing an Oakley jersey.
The transparent effort to prove Dolan to show that he can play nice with former Knicks — although almost every player preceded his arrival as Garden chairman — couldn’t cover up the ugliness surrounding the franchise. The forced attempt at a show of solidarity overshadowed the Knicks playing one of their best games of the season and escaping with a 94-90 win against the San Antonio Spurs, their seventh victory in their last 27 games.
“Well, I can’t tell you why I haven’t been back here, but I’ll tell you when I left, I was not happy,” Sprewell said during the ABC broadcast. “New York is like a second home for me. I love the fans here. The fans have embraced me. There’s no place like the Garden to play in. I mean, who wouldn’t want to play in the Garden? I was definitely disappointed.”
When Sprewell was traded, Dolan said he didn’t have the character to be part of the Knicks and if his behavior on that day in 2003 drew the ire of the owner, Spewell’s arrival now came with the Knicks in free fall, on and off the court.
The Oakley spectacle was a distraction from the bizarre efforts of Knicks President Phil Jackson to prod Carmelo Anthony to waive his no-trade clause ahead of the Feb. 23 deadline.
Even with the cover of the impromptu reunion, the Knicks won’t fool anyone into thinking the Garden is suddenly a joyful place. Head coach Jeff Hornacek called the starting lineup an embarrassment Friday night, the team president isn’t talking to the star and the last alumnus to stop by was dragged out in a long feud with Dolan.
A more apt image for the event was the Spurs and Gregg Popovich facing off against them than the phony set of friends that Dolan lined up for the game. While the Knicks are bathed in chaotic dysfunction, the Spurs are the most consistent, stable franchise in the NBA. In Popovich’s 20 full seasons as coach, the only time the Spurs didn’t win 50 games came during a lockout-shortened 50-game season. They won 37 and beat the Knicks in the NBA Finals.