James Dolan isn’t a favorite when it comes to the minds of Knicks fans. During Tuesday night’s game between the Knicks and the Bulls, he called a fan an asshole all because he was being heckled.
Before we begin, a big standing ovation must be owed to this daring fan who said what is on the minds of many fans. Many fans have begged James Dolan to sell the team. Nobody wants him there. Quite frankly, I’m beginning to wonder if he wants himself there. But, one fan Mike Hamersky, made sure that he spoke his mind as he yelled at Dolan to sell the team. Dolan responded by calling him an asshole. This is straight out of a soap opera.
“I did call him an a–hole,” Dolan told Deadspin, “because he is an a–hole.”
The altercation began when die-hard Knicks fan Mike Hamersky saw Dolan outside the Garden prior to the game and yelled at him to “sell the team.”
But this is only going to get better. Despite Dolan’s request to not let him inside the arena, Hamersky went inside anyway with the help of a friend.
Dolan − instead of taking it easy and getting into his waiting limo along with friend/Eagles manager Irvin Azoff − turned, walked toward Hamersky and began yelling at him.
“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.
The energy that was spent to make sure that Hamersky would stay away from the Garden is priceless but it still couldn’t keep him away as he eventually made it inside. If he had been announced the season subscriber of the game, that moment would’ve been epic.
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.
What Dolan fails to understand is that people will yell this to him and that his explanation for calling the fan an asshole is weak. How else are fans going to get his attention? If anything, attending the game is a golden opportunity for fans to really express themselves.
“I get it. They call me names every day in the paper. Fine. I get it,” Dolan says. “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 it all, Hamersky will continue to be a season ticket holder because he, “Loves the Knicks.” That is one abusive relationship you definitely need to stay away from.