StreetVerse

DOB – Death of basketball in NYC

Posted By: The Abstract Analyst
Filed Under: Sports on February 14, 2010

Lets start at the top

…as many of you know, I am a native New Yorker.  Growing up in the this city, a story that many can relate to is as follows:  Learned about and enjoyed baseball, but getting a field to play on with equipment was virtually impossible.  Football was relegated to the streets for the same reason, lack of field and equipment – so learning the fundamentals around blocking, tackling technique etc. was lost on me. But basketball….all that was needed for basketball was an inflated basketball, a hoop and an even number of people.  So, for me and many others, basketball was where it was…Part of the reason why I believe NYC is called the mecca of basketball is because it is the sport everyone plays, without exception. So who killed it? One man is responsible.  His name is James Dolan.  The same man who was mentioned in the root of the NYC MTA article I wrote a few days back, has committed a much more egregious crime .  He killed basketball, murdered the mecca through mismanagement and an overvalued sense of sense.  The member of the lucky birth club, the spoiled rich kid has treated the team as his toy and has made moves based on “his idol worship” of basketball figures like Isiah Thomas, rather than basketball people.  The NBA had to step in to advise him to get a real GM to run this team rather than keeping Isiah, cause he’s so cool.  Note: prior to Isiah, the spoiled lil rich kid wanted Magic Johnson, but opted for the next best thing – a man who has failed at every level of his professional post playing days.  Prior to the merciless destruction of the Knicks under Dolan’s watch, Thomas had a track record that ran like a rap sheet.  Toronto Raptors, while drafting well (to give credit, he’s a really good scout and should have been nothing more than an advance scout – but his name opened doors his skill didn’t warrant) could not even achieve a record of more than 25 wins.  Thomas then subsequently purchased and bankrupted the CBA in a matter of 3 years.  But he wasn’t done building his post playing resume.  He then went on to run the Indiana Pacers into years of failure, going no further than the first round of the playoffs with excellent teams stacked with talent…

James Dolan, not without failure, probably saw a kindred spirit in Isiah.  But unlike Zeke, Dolan had never earned or done anything in his life on his own.  He was handed Cablevisions investment in one of the best chains of electronic stores in NYC, resulting in losses of $250MM & also purchased a movie cinema chain that generated little to no revenue.

In 1999 James Dolan took over ownership of the New York Knicks.  That same year, he hired Dave Checketts, the architect of the 90’s NY Knicks.  All was not lost yet, as Ernie Grunfled took over and managed. He did a decent job until Dolan began exerting more of his power.  He brought in Scott Layden, an unremarkable Utah Jazz executive who was well over his head in NYC. He managed a few more playoff runs based off of the work of others and spent money wildly, without reason, in an attempt to recapture past glory rather than rebuilding.  There is a myth that you can’t rebuild in NYC, when in fact the Knicks have proven that you can rebuild. But, why bother when you can create a club the wrong way.

Layden’s last year proved to be the final stage for the Knicks to enter into the really dark ages. Isiah Thomas was brought in by Dolan who idolized him and he proceeded to trade away the future for a worse present.  The team got worse and worse.  This made his CBA failure pale in comparison – He and Dolan were in the process of ripping the heart out of basketball in the city.  Real fans realized this and became more disenfranchised.

“Super” fans like Spike (if its black, its good!) Lee applauded the move and continued to jump around in support of his team (and he can now have it, given the state of affairs). The Knicks went from a bad stretch to the Clippers of the east.

Thanks for nothing

The team has spent the last 2 years attempting to get out from under Isiah’s mess, which no one within the organization seems to admit was a mistake (including “super” fan Spike “jump around” Lee.) Then he proceeded to cheat the fans by putting out a less than compelling product on the court in hopes of landing a great free agent or 2 in the summer of 2010.  My guess is that none of the big free agents came to NYC, people talk….and the Knicks does what only the Knicks can do and that is overpay for 3rd tier players and manage to barely get back to winning, but not get any where closer of bringing a championship to NYC.  In the end,  Dolan’s goal is to turn a profit by simply qualifying for the playoff and getting the 89th game in for revenue’s sake.  I highly doubt tha Dolan cares anything about a championship.  He thinks so highly of his business management that he fails to remember how little he knows about business or about basketball given his “rise to power.” Playoff run? Possible, but true success? No way. Not under Dolan’s run. Sadly NY has come to grips with this and pretty much has given up, leaving NYC basketball dead. At least we can be thankful the spoiled rich kid didn’t buy the Yanks…

About the Author

MBA graduate and observer of media, politics, sports and every thing absurd...