Knicks owner resigned from NBA board committee positions in July

It’s not your typical “Woj bomb,” but it’s certainly a revealing report on New York Knicks owner James Dolan.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Dolan had resigned from serving on key board committees for the NBA after his team filed a lawsuit against the Toronto Raptors. Dolan served on both their media and finance committees until sending his resignation to commissioner Adam Silver and his fellow team owners/governors in July. 

The memo, according to Wojnarowski, said:

“Given all that has occurred lately, I have come to the conclusion that the NBA neither needs nor wants my opinion,” Dolan wrote in a July memo to Silver that he copied to the other 29 league owners.
“My hope is that the Knicks will be treated equally and fairly as all other NBA teams,” Dolan said in the memo. “… As you know, I am very busy with all my duties at MSG family of companies. I need to apply my time where I can be most productive.”

The Knicks are embroiled in a lawsuit against the Raptors, sparked by the departure of their former director of video, analytics and player development. The Knicks accused Ikechukwu Azotam of sending proprietary information to his new employer, believing that he improperly used his access to the Knicks on his last day of employment to upload thousands of videos and data points on players to his personal account. The Raptors have moved to dismiss the lawsuit while the Knicks are seeking upwards of $10 million in damages.

Dolan has increasingly criticized Silver on league matters, but has also gone after the commissioner for his relationship with Larry Tennenbaum, the chairman/governor of the Raptors on behalf of that team’s owner Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Dolan believes that Silver won’t be impartial should the case end up presided under arbitration with the league.

Dolan, who also owns the Rangers, Madison Square Garden, MSG Network and several other entertainment properties around the country, was the lone dissenting vote for two recent NBA decisions. He voted against awarding a WNBA franchise to San Francisco and the Golden State Warriors, and he was against the recent change in the majority ownership of the Charlotte Hornets. 

It’s not entirely clear how much sway he held in past negotiations for collective bargaining agreements with the players or media rights, though the latter may come in play as the league is considering which media companies to partner with after the 2024-25 season ends.

This is likely far from his most pressing concern at the moment. On Monday, London’s mayor voted down a proposal from Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Entertainment to build a Sphere in the city akin to the one recently opened in Las Vegas.