Well, that makes one of us.
I jest. I’m actually with New York Knicks owner James Dolan on this one—shocking, I know. In a one-on-one interview with the New York Post‘s Mike Vaccaro, Dolan broke his media-averse silence and touched upon a number of things. From the Knicks and New York Rangers to his band and their sex-craved groupies (that last one’s a joke…I think), Dolan fielded questions for the first time since Seward’s Folly 2007.
Among the many things he talked about was Amar’e Stoudemire, the six-time All-Star turned oft-injured, marginalized role player, who has seen his career flattened by a gauntlet of injuries and subsequent setbacks. He’s owed more than $45 million between now and next season, preventing the Knicks from becoming players in this summer’s free-agent market, thus handicapping their ability to build a contender around their free-agent-to-be, Carmelo Anthony.
Looking back, inking Stoudemire to that five-year, uninsured $100-million contract in 2010 was a bit impulsive. Given the opportunity, the Knicks would certainly take it back. Right? Wrong. Mr. Dolan wouldn’t, at least.
Asked by Vaccaro if he would mulligan STAT’s contract, Dolan indicated he wouldn’t.
“Nope,” he said simply.
Pressed to elaborate on his answer, Jimmy D provided what I thought was a response befitting an owner who actually understands what he’s doing:
We would not be where we are today without Amar’e. That summer, the summer of “The Decision,” there were a whole bunch of free agents, and the guys put their thing together in Miami, and Amar’e agreed to come to the Knicks, gave us a launch pad by which we could convince the other guys like Tyson [Chandler] to come, and ultimately Carmelo to come play with us. Do I think Carmelo would have come if we didn’t have Amar’e? No, I don’t think he would’ve. These free agents, when you get to this level of player — the Carmelos, the LeBrons, the Durants — the first thing they want before the money or anything else is to be on a winning team. They’ve got to believe they have a shot.
Sound the alarm. Call 9-1-1. Kick my ass and pelt me with french fries. I agree with Dolan. The world is clearly ending. Say goodbye to your loved ones. It’s over. This cannot be happening; it never happens.
In all seriousness, Dolan is right. The Knicks wouldn’t be where they are without STAT. Does ‘Melo force his way to New York if Stoudemire signs elsewhere? Absolutely not. Get that through your head. After seven-plus seasons being The Man on the Denver Nuggets, he wasn’t going to start another movement in New York. He wanted a team that already had a superstar. Someone like STAT. And so, here he is.
That’s nothing against ‘Melo, obviously. Dude is a genius. I’d have done the same thing. And where I used to resent him for how much the Knicks gave up, I’ve come to grips with the fact that’s on the organization and not him; I’ve moved on.
But the Knicks can’t. Not from Amar’e. Not right now. Perhaps they find a team to unload his deal on, but it likely comes at the cost of another obnoxious contract. Most of me doesn’t want to see that happen; more of me hates seeing STAT, one of the league’s hardest workers, regress into this almost-helpless version of himself.
All of me understands that the Knicks, while now largely tasked with winning in spite of him, are only thought title contenders in theory because of him.
New York owes you a thank you, STAT. On second thought, never mind. That $45 million should be enough.
Dan Favale is d firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
