The New York Knicks are a mess. They are bad for business, bad for image and they stink on the court. Big Worm said it best, “playing with my money is like playing with my emotions”. According to Frank Isola of the NY Daily News, NBA Commish Adam Silver and Hornets owner Michael Jordan both agree.
According to a source, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Michael Jordan conducted a conference call with Oakley and Dolan on Monday to mediate a reconciliation. Jordan, the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, is Oakley’s former teammate in Chicago and Washington, and the two are close friends. Dolan announced on Friday that Oakley is banned indefinitely from the Garden following an altercation with MSG security last Wednesday.
This comes one day after Dolan had ex-Knicks Latrell Sprewell and Larry Johnson sit by his side for the Knicks nationally televised games versus the Spurs. The NBA has intervened in the past as well to save Dolan from himself. Back in 2008, then-NBA commissioner David Stern strongly influenced the Knicks to hire respected General Manager Donnie Walsh to save New York from the depths of basketball purgatory. While the Knicks did turn things around for a brief period, things eventually went south with Dolan running Walsh off the job.
Silver and Jordan know the deal. The Knicks are a circus act good for quick laughs. Dolan took over the Knicks in 1999. Since then they have won 1 playoff series since reaching the Finals that same season. The NBA like any other sports league thrives when their major market teams are successful. In the number one media market they have a basketball team that plays on broadway yet hasn’t delivered a single worthwhile memory to anyone under the age of 25.
Flip the page to see the press release from the commish saying cooler heads have now prevailed.