Owner's controversial email to fan casts another cloud over NY Knicks season

Steve Brenner 12:04 16/02/2015
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  • Bigmouth strikes again: James Dolan (l), with president Phil Jackson, has owned the Knicks since 1999.

    It was a performance as pitiful and shocking as anything served up on the court this season.

    You would have thought the owner of a New York Knicks side boasting a record of 10-43 would have the forethought and sense to show compassion and understanding when it comes to fan anger.

    After all, having spent $60 million (Dh220.4m) to bring in  legendary coach Phil ‘Zen Master’ Jackson as president last summer, it would only be natural to assume progress will be made. James Dolan, however, resembled one of his flagging superstars with a quite astonishing riposte to a lifelong Knicks die-hard which was leaked to a US website this week.

    Irving Bierman, 72, had seen enough. He was fed up of watching defeat after defeat. So he emailed Dolan. It wasn’t vitriolic. It wasn’t abusive. Yes, he was angry. But can you blame him?

    He wrote: “At one stage I thought that you did a wonderful thing when you acquired EVERYTHING from your dad. However, since then it has been all downhill. As a fan for 60 years I am utterly embarrassed by your dealings with the Knicks. The bottom line is that you merely continued to interfere with the franchise. Sell them so the fans can look forward to growing them in the right direction.”

    Considering it has been 43 years since the Knicks were crowned kings of the world, Bierman’s email was fair game. The response, however, was anything but.

    It was a disgrace. One which should act as a blueprint detailing exactly how never to respond or even talk to devoted supporters who spend bucketloads of their hard-earned money only to sit through some of the most atrocious displays known to man.

    “You are a sad person. Why would anybody write such a hateful letter. I am. just guessing but ill bet your life is a mess and you are a hateful mess,” Dolan wrote, with somewhat questionable punctuation.

    “What have you done that anyone would consider positive or nice. I am betting nothing. In fact I’ll bet you are negative force in everyone who comes in contact with you. You most likely have made your family miserable. Alcoholic maybe. I just celebrated my 21 year anniversary of sobriety. You should try it. Maybe it will help you become a person that folks would like to have around.”

    And then, just to finish off the masterpiece, Dolan really went for the jugular. “Start rooting for the Nets,”  he added. “Because the Knicks don’t want you.”

    There it is. An owner telling a devoted fan not to bother supporting his team. Incredible. Dolan, worth a cool $1.5bn (Dh5.5bn), clearly has more money than sense. 

    The response from well-respected NBA commissioner Adam Silver was equally disappointing. Silver was quick to insist no penalties would be heading Dolan’s way.

     “Jim is a consummate New Yorker,” Silver said. “Jim got an unkind email and responded with an unkind email.”

    Carmelo Anthony walks with Quincy Acy of the New York Knicks

    The embarrassment could not have come at a worse time. Not only are the Knicks poised to finish last in the East but the great and the good of the NBA descended on the Big Apple this past week to celebrate All-Star weekend.

    At a charity event in Manhattan on Friday, Dolan was put on the spot. Squirming yet showing no remorse, the 59 year-old said: “I got sent a bad, hateful email.

     “I generally don’t respond to the bad ones. This time, it just caught me at the wrong moment and I responded. And I knew I shouldn’t have done that and I did it anyway because it made me angry. Because it was a personal, hateful attack.”

    Clearly a owner with the thinnest skin known to man, only Dolan will be able to decipher what was ‘hateful’ in Bierman’s email.

    Factual is perhaps a better adjective. Since he inherited the team in 1999, the Knicks have reached just one NBA final. He has spent millions clearing up botched coaching appointments and sexual harassment claims. No wonder Carmelo Anthony has no qualms about sitting out the remainder of the season to ensure his knee will be in shape to secure a postseason move.

    One of the greatest, most storied NBA franchises are in grave danger of becoming a laughing stock. And for that, Dolan, old bigmouth himself, must shoulder the blame.

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