Newsday.com
Rieber: Time for Stern to suspend Dolan
BY ANTHONY RIEBER
anthony.rieber@newsday.com
12:34 PM EST, November 20, 2007
Well, look who's back in town. It's your New York Knicks, who will be at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night to play the Golden State Warriors.
I thought I smelled something.
The Knicks, coming off their 0-4 Western trip and with a 2-7 record, should expect to hear many boos. Many, many boos. Some of them directed Stephon Marbury's way, no doubt. It will make Knicks fans feel good. It will accomplish nothing.
Maybe there'll be a "Fire Isiah" chant. Those are always fun. That will accomplish nothing either.
There is only one person whose removal from the premises can save the Knicks. There is only one person who can remove this person.
It's time for David Stern to suspend James Dolan from any involvement with the Knicks for his part in the Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment trial. For how long? For as long as the NBA commissioner can. Let Dolan sue if he wants to. What's Dolan's record in lawsuits?
Right. 0-1.
Only with Daddy's Little Dictator out of the picture can the Knicks ever climb back to respectability. Stern has to be embarrassed about the state of one of the league's marquee franchises; we don't have to go through everything that's happened at 33rd and Seventh. You already know it all.
So does Stern. Logic would indicate he has already tried to pressure Cablevision head Charles Dolan, James' father, to send his son out to the NBA woodshed. Fat chance. Papa Dolan has the same blind spot as most parents do. Either that, or he wants to keep Jimmy at MSG so he doesn't have to deal with him at the cable company, which is the business' real money-maker.
Bumping off Thomas isn't enough. That's going to happen eventually, and as one who has seen Isiah up close and personal this season, let me assure you he will be very happy to be shown the door and given a big, fat MSG severance check. Thomas may be nervous about where his next job will be, but that doesn't mean he wants to continue to preside over this mess. He's ready to go.
Stern can't let that happen. He can't let Dolan make Thomas the fall guy for his own ineptitude. Remember, it was Stern who said in an ESPN interview on the eve of the season that the Knicks' handling of the Browne Sanders lawsuit "demonstrates that they're not a model of intelligent management. There were many checkpoints along the way where more decisive action would have eliminated this issue."
Good zinger, commish, but where's the action from you? In the same interview, Stern rattled his sword, saying, "I'm not considering any range of disciplinary action, but my powers are very broad if I choose to exercise them."
Choose. Exercise. Be broad.
Suspend Dolan indefinitely for presiding over a culture of muck and endorsing Browne Sanders' firing. Even if you don't buy the jury's verdict that Thomas sexually harassed Browne Sanders – I think the jury got that part wrong, but Stern and I both have to respect the whole verdict – there's no doubt Browne Sanders was fired for raising the issue in the first place.
Either way, suspended or eventually fired, Thomas goes. But that won't fix the Knicks.
Dolan has to be banned from his courtside seat and his throne in the Knicks' boardroom. Remember, it was Dolan who during his deposition said, "All decisions at the Garden, I make on my own." Stern has to hold him accountable for his words.
If Isiah's gone and Jimmy's out of the way, and the blood isn't on daddy Charles' hands, then Stern can call Charles and "help" the Knicks find someone to run the franchise. I don't know who that someone is, but Rod Thorn went from the league office to run the Nets and that's worked out well. Stern must have someone stashed over there at NBA headquarters who can rescue this franchise.
Stern is a lawyer, so it should hearten him to know there is precedent for this sort of maneuver involving commissioners and two of New York's more stable franchises.
In 1979, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle recommended George Young to run the Giants to settle a feud between the team's owners. The result was two Super Bowl titles under Bill Parcells.
In 1990, baseball commissioner Fay Vincent suspended George Steinbrenner for his involvement in the Howie Spira/Dave Winfield affair. With The Boss out of the picture, the Yankees allowed their farm system to flourish and returned to prominence under general manager Stick Michael and manager Buck Showalter. The four World Series championships of the Joe Torre era followed.
So when should Stern lift Dolan's indefinite suspension? That one's easy:
The day after the Knicks win their next NBA championship.