{"id":1992897,"date":"2026-06-16T09:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1992897"},"modified":"2026-06-16T09:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:30:18","slug":"through-knicks-ups-and-downs-james-dolan-led-team-to-nba-title-on-his-own-terms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1992897","title":{"rendered":"Through Knicks\u2019 ups and downs, James Dolan led team to NBA title on his own terms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In the end, James Dolan won.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of criticism of him, of contempt toward him, of wars with him, Dolan won. The New York Knicks \u2014 literally his<\/em> Knicks, the franchise he and his family have run and owned for some 30 years \u2014 are NBA champions. It may be all that matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Winning is the ultimate goal, after all. That has always been the driving focus of the Dolan era, even though it was long a missing or inconsistent element. He has pushed a slew of executives to win \u2014 or else. He has fought with politicians, fans, former players and the NBA, and played to win. <\/span><\/p>\n

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That has not always been enough, especially given the peaks and valleys of doing it on his own terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

But now Dolan, long a villain to his own fans, has led the Knicks to the NBA mountaintop and snapped a 53-year title drought on those terms<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was the one who received the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy from NBA commissioner Adam Silver Saturday night in San Antonio \u2014 the glorious vision so many who had worked and rooted for the Knicks had always wanted to behold. <\/span>This was his validation and proof that he had done it right, even if that might not be true.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, it may not change a thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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That is the nature of Dolan\u2019s relationship with New York City and the fans who enter his building. Even in victory \u2014 rapturous as it was<\/a> \u2014 they can only co-exist. The wounds are too painful, scabbed over but not forgotten. The pain is still too recent and still too clear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For years, Dolan was seen as one of the worst owners in the NBA, perhaps in all of sports. He was too meddlesome, too fractious, too himself. He was the man behind the dysfunction for two decades, and that can never be forgotten by many.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dolan has fought with Knicks fans. He has kicked them out of his arena and banned them for daring to say that he should sell the team. He has overseen some of the worst times in Knicks history, remaining a constant in an era of tumult and, worse yet, humiliation. The team\u2019s list of lows under Dolan is plentiful.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Isiah Thomas era. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Anucha Browne Sanders scandal. <\/span><\/p>\n

Phil Jackson, period. <\/span><\/p>\n

The way Carmelo Anthony came and how he went. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dolan\u2019s ongoing feud with Charles Oakley<\/a>. <\/span>All happened on his watch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Mike<\/p>\n
\n
\n Mike Brown often defers credit, but the Knicks\u2019 NBA title warrants praising his path\n <\/div>\n
\n Mike Brown took a roundabout path to his first NBA championship as a head coach, but it was well worth the ride.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Even now, in this spring of glory, one that will overshadow the best playoff runs that New York City has ever had, Dolan has not abated. Just last week, he fought with the city \u2014 namely, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch \u2014 over the size of watch parties outside Madison Square Garden. Dolan deemed them \u201cparty poopers\u201d as he called for less security around MSG. He invited President Donald Trump to a finals game. <\/span>The president was vigorously booed during Game 3<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, they\u2019ve won together. And Dolan has won larger than most.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This is, in so many ways, the year of Dolan. The Knicks\u2019 championship is a capstone to a string of victories elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sphere, his baby, has become an artistic and, now, financial success. It is a diamond in the desert, a concert venue like no other. And Dolan has already started licensing more around the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Donald<\/p>\n
\n
\n Donald Trump, James Dolan tried to ruin NBA Finals vibe. The Knicks\u2019 loss killed it\n <\/div>\n
\n Dolan should’ve known Trump’s presence would hijack attention from the night and complicate logistics for the NBA and deeply invested fans.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Perhaps it is no accident that the Knicks\u2019 steady rebuild and resurgence came while Dolan seemed to spend more time around his Las Vegas invention. But it was also <\/span>his decision to hire Leon Rose<\/span><\/a>. Dolan called Rose in January 2020, before he had even fired the team\u2019s then-president, Steve Mills, with the idea that Rose could take over and run the franchise\u2019s basketball operations. That choice set the Knicks down the road to San Antonio. And Dolan\u2019s input was a part of the Knicks\u2019 decision to fire Tom Thibodeau and go down the circuitous path that brought Mike Brown to their sidelines, and that, too, worked out. Even MSG Sports shareholders must be jubilant, the stock has gone up 59.9 percent over the last six months.<\/span><\/p>\n

James Dolan and Knicks fans have long been foils, yet they\u2019ve always wanted the same thing. They finally have it<\/a>. There is no grand re-invention, no legacy that can be spun, no way to make amends for the past. But they can go forward together happily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Now, Dolan gets to say he\u2019s a winner. A champion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That title sticks. He knows it. He said as much in the April speech he made to the team before they embarked on their championship run.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re walking out of here with rings and we\u2019re walking out of here with a moniker on ourselves that will never ever f\u2014ing go away,\u201d Dolan said. \u201cMe, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, maybe that\u2019s all that matters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the end, James Dolan won.\u00a0 After years of criticism of him, of contempt toward him, of wars with him, Dolan won. The New York Knicks \u2014 literally his Knicks, the franchise he and his family have run and owned for some 30 years \u2014 are NBA champions. It may be all that matters. Winning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1992897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1992897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1992897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1992897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1992897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}