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djsunyc
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Charles Dolan tells David Stern that Jim won't be bounced at MSG
Sunday, November 18th 2007, 4:00 AM
Charles Dolan had a recent talk with David Stern - you'll never guess who it was about - and the news isn't good for Knicks fans who can't wait to see Dolan's son, Jim, removed from his CEO position at the Garden.
The elder Dolan reportedly told the NBA commissioner, "It's Jimmy's team and I've got bigger stuff to concern myself with," a Stern confidante said on Friday, just a few days removed from the Isiah Thomas-Stephon Marbury blowup that showed that the Knicks are a franchise lacking leadership.
If Jim Dolan is as entrenched as his father made it seem, get ready for more losing and more bad hires whenever the younger Dolan sends Isiah Thomas on his merry way.
While it's nice to think about having Jerry Colangelo or Kiki Vandeweghe come in to try to get things turned around at the Garden, Dolan will never hire a basketball person who wants complete control over the operation, as Colangelo and Vandeweghe would unquestionably demand, according to persons who have had dealings with Dolan on the very subject.
As bad as things have gotten, Dolan has not come to the obvious conclusion that he needs to divorce himself from the Knicks. That is the depressing message league officials have also heard in dealings with the two Dolans, as well.
"Jim's going to continue to hold the power and whoever he brings in is going to have to kowtow to him," said a league source. "He won't give people total control. A guy like Jerry Colangelo will tell Jimmy to stay in his suite and stay out of his way because he's running things. But Jimmy would never agree to that. It's more important for him to be the man than it is to win. Winning is not the most important thing for Jim. If it was, he wouldn't have hired Isiah."
Taking it a step further, without Thomas, the Knicks never would have brought in Marbury, whose shaky reputation took another hit when he went AWOL last week. And the Knicks wouldn't have had a president who allowed a player to get away with such an act. You think Jerry West would have given his OK for Marbury to play the next game after he bolted the team? The entire episode again revealed that the organization needs a strong personality to take control.
"Stephon Marbury is wrong," said Charles Barkley on TNT. "I like Isiah Thomas, I've been a big defender of his, but Stephon Marbury's track record speaks for itself. If you can't be happy playing with Kevin Garnett, you're never going to be happy. Isiah Thomas made a huge mistake bringing Stephon Marbury to the Knicks, thinking he could change him. Stephon Marbury is who he is."
And who is that, Charles?
"Stephon Marbury is one of those guys that when he came to the NBA we said, ‘That guy is going to be a great player, one day, when he gets it,'" he added. "And then five years later you say, ‘He ain't getting it yet. He's never going to get it.' Stephon Marbury is a very talented basketball player who's never going to get it. He's going to do it his way, which is the wrong way. You'd think a guy who has been on four teams would think, ‘I did it my way, but it ain't working,' and he would change. But Stephon Marbury is not going to change."
Neither, apparently, is Jim Dolan, which is an even bigger problem if you root for the Knicks. |
11/18/2007 10:26 AM