Knicks owner James Dolan might be the most disliked man in the NBA these days. Not just by Knicks fans, but basketball fans in general. Not only is he largely responsible for taking a historic New York franchise and turning it into a perpetual bottom dweller, but Dolan has frequently battled with anybody that would dare challenge him.
Dolan went to court in a sexual harassment lawsuit and to this day alleges that the “truth” never came out despite reaching an $11.5 million settlement in the case. Most basketball fans would be happier if Dolan just sold the team and left the NBA forever.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to happen. Dolan loves running the Knicks among the many projects he has his hands in. And the asking price Dolan has for the Knicks is high. They’re already an extremely valuable franchise, with Forbes listing them at $3.6 billion. But of course, Dolan would demand the world if he were to ever sell them.
In a discussion with ESPN’s Ian O’Connor the number $5 billion was floated around. Dolan also said he has no interest in selling the team right now.
“You have a responsibility as the guy who runs the place to deliver on that for them, that’s being open and transparent. And so in that position, I could never say that I wouldn’t consider selling the Knicks. Now, my family is not in that position, and they are the majority shareholders. They hold the majority of the vote. … As a majority owner, I don’t want to sell, either. As the head of the public company, you can’t say you can’t sell, because then you’re telling your shareholders that your own personal feelings about your assets are more important than their money. And they won’t invest with you if you do that.”
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“No one has come through with a bona fide offer. You hear numbers all the time. … I think people have sent feelers out, but never any that were pursued. Yeah, [the feelers are] around that number [$5 billion], but those things, it’s like a stock price. It’s only important if you’re going to buy or sell.”
It makes sense for Dolan to demand an even higher sales price on the Knicks than what they’re valued at. Especially when you consider that the Rockets recently sold for $2.2 billion. When you own the most valuable team in the NBA then you’re going to demand a huge profit on any actual sale of that team.
Unfortunately, this means that the only way Dolan is ever selling the team is if he’s forced out. The $5 billion price tag alone is pretty crazy, but when you add in that he currently has no desire to sell then it becomes pretty apparent that he’s going to own the team for possibly his entire life. That’s unfortunate news for Knicks fans.
