James Dolan pulls interesting move with NBA board vote

Jan 4, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Executive Chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden, James Dolan, walks off the court after the New York Knicks defeated the Indiana Pacers 104-94 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

James Dolan appears to have pulled a really James Dolan move this week.

The NBA’s Board of Governors formally approved the sale of the Charlotte Hornets over the weekend. The runway is now clear for longtime owner Michael Jordan to sell the team to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for a reported sum of $3 billion.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed something interesting about the vote though. Wojnarowski reports that the vote passed with 29 owners voting in favor and one voting against. That one vote against came from the New York Knicks owner Dolan.

No reason was given for why Dolan cast a “no” vote. Did he want to keep Jordan in the NBA as an owner? Does he have some sort of businessman-on-businessman beef with Plotkin, founder of the infamous Melvin Capital hedge fund? Or does Dolan not like Schnall’s past as an ex-minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks (a current Knicks rival)? Your guess is as good as ours right now.

With another recent sale of an NBA team, there was also a similar instance of a lone opposing owner voting “no.” But while we know that vote was for petty reasons, Dolan’s reasoning is a bit more unclear for the time being.