The Knicks are off to a bad start so far this season. How bad? Well, at 3-8, they're currently below the Philadelphia 76ers, the Charlotte Bobcats, and the Boston Celtics in the standings right now. And all three of those teams were labeled as possible "tankers" before the season started. So Knicks fans are not happy.
In an effort to try and calm the Knicks fan base down, owner James Dolan sat for a rare interview with the New York Post this week to talk about all things Knicks (and, to a much lesser degree, New York Rangers). And he had a bunch of pretty interesting things to say about the team. Here are a few of them:
- He's not going to fire Knicks head coach Mike Woodson anytime soon. "I have a lot of confidence in Woodson," he said, "and one thing I can say about Mike is he has the respect of all the players."
- He's "mostly" confident in Carmelo Anthony's ability to bring a championship to New York City. (Uh, wait, "mostly"…?)
- He would rather have this year's Knicks team over the Knicks team that started off the season 18-5 last year.
- He thinks he's a good owner.
- He's not bringing Isiah Thomas back into the mix in any capacity anytime soon. "I don't know that he'll ever be able to work in New York," he says.
But the most interesting that Dolan said during the course of the interview—to us, at least—is that he does not regret signing Amar'e Stoudemire to a five-year, $100 million deal a few years back, despite the fact that his contract is currently dragging the team down while Stoudemire continues to nurse a balky knee.
"Nope," Dolan says, when asked if he would take a mulligan on the contract if he could. "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."
Fair enough. But at this point, Amar'e's massive contract is also one of the things hindering the team. So…
If you're a Knicks fan—or, hell, a Knicks hater—the Post's Q&A with Dolan is worth reading. Check it out over here. Just do yourself a favor and skip over all the stuff about his band. You'll thank us later.
RELATED: The Struggle of the 2013-14 New York Knicks Explained in Mike Woodson GIFs
RELATED: The 25 Biggest Fails in New York Knicks History
RELATED: The 25 Worst Franchises in Sports History
[via New York Post]
