Rumors have been swirling for months that New York Knicks owner James Dolan could be in the early stages of trying to sell the team, but he continues to insist that is not the case.
Over the weekend, Bill Simmons of The Ringer said on his podcast that he was told by multiple people he trusts that Dolan is courting offers to sell the Knicks. In a statement issued to Larry Brown Sports on Monday, the Madison Square Garden Company said any talk of Dolan putting the team up for sale is “100 percent false.”
“The story is 100% false. There has been nothing. No discussions. No plans to have discussions – nothing,” the statement read.
Simmons said Dolan is seeking $5 billion and wants to sell the Knicks without including Madison Square Garden, which sounds a bit ridiculous. Perhaps the situation is one where Dolan would sell the team if he was totally blown away by an offer but is not actively shopping the franchise.
Dolan did not rule out selling the Knicks back in December, but he explained that you can never completely close the door on a sale when you have shareholders and investors. Despite that, we’ve seen how sensitive he gets over criticism of his struggling NBA franchise. Given how tortured Knicks fans have been in recent years and how fed up they are with Dolan, it would not be a surprise if he wanted to move on from the basketball side of things.
