DOLAN CALLS FAN AN A-HOLE
AP
When it comes to James Dolan, apparently it takes an “a-hole” to know an “a-hole.”
The Knicks owner − who got in an ugly public battle with beloved former Knick Charles Oakley this season − admitted to screaming at a Knicks season ticket holder outside of Madison Square Garden and calling him an “a--hole” before Tuesday night’s tip against the Bulls, according to Deadspin.
“I did call him an a--hole,” Dolan told Deadspin, “because he is an a--hole.”
The altercation began when diehard Knicks fan Mike Hamersky saw Dolan outside the Garden prior to the game and yelled at him to “sell the team.”
It was a modest request, really, of a man overseeing a Knicks team that sports an abysmal 30-48 record and has had another dysfunctional season in so many ways. (See Phil Jackson, Joakim Noah’s contract, the whole Derrick Rose situation, the likely end of Carmelo Anthony’s tenure ... need we continue?)
Dolan − instead of taking it easy and getting into his waiting limo along with friend/ Eagles manager Irving Azoff − turned, walked toward Hamersky and began yelling.
“What if I showed up at your office and called you an a--hole? Because you are an a--hole!” Dolan allegedly screamed at Hamersky after he told the owner he’s a lawyer.
“What if I told you, ‘You suck at your job?’ Or, ‘How do you like losing that case?’ ” Dolan admitted to asking the fan.
Then, like he did during the Oakley fiasco, Dolan − a recovering alcoholic himself − went out of his way to claim Hamersky was drunk.
“He had an open bottle of beer and smelled of alcohol, and I told him he wasn’t going in,” the owner told Deadspin.
Hamersky, who lives in Astoria, denied that claim, saying that he came to the Garden after teaching a Fordham Law class.
Hamersky added a member of Dolan’s security team then followed him around Midtown until he was blocks from the Garden. Hamersky eventually turned around, met back up with a friend and was able to get into The World’s Most Famous Arena and watch the game − though he said he still expected to get thrown out at some point.
Dolan told Deadspin he took offense to the fact that Hamersky yelled at him outside of his Garden.
“I get it. They call me names every day in the paper. Fine. I get it,” Dolan said. “But you’re walking up to the place where I work? It’s like they’re laying in wait for you. It’s like stalking me outside my home. Some people tend to think of team owners like politicians. But we’re not! I didn’t run for any office. These people who yell at you act surprised when you yell back. It’s like when I got that incredibly derogatory email, and so I wrote back an incredibly derogatory email, and these people are surprised?”
Despite all of the drama, and being called an “a--hole” from the guy who is going to get his money for the seats, Hamersky has no plans to get rid of his season tickets.
“I can’t help it,” Hamersky said. “I love the Knicks.”