Dolan may have bigger worries than settlement

Ken Berger

NBA BASKETBALL

11:50 PM EST, December 10, 2007


Given that James Dolan and Isiah Thomas are partners not only in bad basketball but also a federal sexual harassment verdict in favor of Anucha Browne Sanders, one theory is that Monday's $11.5-million settlement pulled Thomas' safety net right out from under him.

Thomas certainly is beginning to act as though that's the case, getting into some verbal sparring with fans behind the Knicks' bench during Monday night's 99-89 loss to the Mavericks. Earlier, he butted heads with a reporter, saying during the pregame media session, "Can you sit down? I don't like it when you stand over me like that."

The legal theory about Thomas' status goes like this: Because Dolan has no more legal obligation to Thomas, he can judge him on his job performance alone. That is why the most ominous sentence in all the statements released by the various parties Monday night was the bit from MSG about "focusing on basketball." Maybe that's why Isiah was in such a bad mood Monday.

The official word from Garden officials, reiterated Saturday night after another blowout loss, is that Dolan's allegiance to Thomas remains stronger than ever. But now that the settlement has removed all future legal entanglements between them, a link in the chain has been removed.

Does the settlement mean that NBA commissioner David Stern won't discipline Dolan, Thomas or MSG Sports president Steve Mills? Stern wasn't available for comment Monday night, but as you are about to learn, there are bigger fish to fry.

Despite all the boos and chanting directed at Thomas, he's small potatoes compared to some rumblings on the non-basketball side of the Cablevision business that could have a major impact on Dolan's future as the man in charge of this mess. This is the part you really care about -- not some basketball coach, but the man at the top.

With so many blowouts to chronicle, it has been easy to lose track of the Dolan family's failed bid to take Cablevision private, and thus out of public view and scrutiny. Shareholders rejected the takeover bid in October and the company's shares have plummeted, closing Monday at $25.58.

That's almost $11 per share less than the Dolans offered, meaning the stock has lost nearly $3 billion since the vote.

The other shoe eventually will drop, and speculation is growing in the cable industry that it will happen sooner rather than later. One theory, floated last week by The Wall Street Journal and substantiated by an industry source, is that Cablevision could be ripe for a takeover in a business in which consolidation is a way of life.

"There may be a silver lining for Cablevision's beleaguered shareholders," the Journal's Dana Cimilluca wrote. "The industry's woes could provide the trigger for the long-awaited consolidation that could drive Cablevision into the arms of a larger rival like Time Warner."

This could be a silver lining, too, for Knicks fans who have grown tired of Dolan's lordship over the Garden and the Knicks.

Dolan would be a lot harder to get rid of than Browne Sanders and Larry Brown. With 75 percent voting power, Dolan can't be forced out.

But a potential Cablevision buyer also would get the Garden and the Knicks -- or would be crazy not to. Forbes magazine recently ranked the Knicks as the NBA's most valuable franchise for the third straight year, at $608 million.

Which raises the question of whether Dolan's authority would be eroded if Time Warner, Verizon or some other cable monster became the owner of the Garden and the teams that play in it. There is no guarantee that another phalanx of empty suits would care any less about the bottom line or any more about quality basketball, but you never know.

"It's possible, but who knows?" said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who made his millions in online video before founding HDNet, the national high-definition TV network.

"All cable stocks are down," Cuban said. "Comcast is under $20 for the first time ever. That also means that the companies that would take them over, their stock prices are depressed. I'd probably say it's a long, long, long shot."

But a long shot like that is something Knicks fans could root for.

Posted by Nalod:

I have long advocated that its not ownership but the process by which things get done.

I believe the Braves are for sale. Its been quite a few years since Turner sold to TW and the braves remain competitive.

We got dolan who does not mind spending which is a good thing but is impatient with is the root of our problems.

Let Dolan keep the Knicks but lets rally for him to make a smart move by letting someone run it effective!

And Don't fire Isiah unless your willing to shed the team of Marbury.