James Dolan
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
That kind of thing.
Or maybe not.
Or maybe not.
There's a lot to talk to you since I guess you haven't spoken of a lot of your Knicks and Rangers issues in the last few years.
Let me start with the Knicks.
Obviously, the great run last year.
Looks like they're on their way to a special season this year.
But in the process, you also made a decision, you and Leon Rose, to relieve Tom Thibodeau of his head coaching duties.
And Mike comes in, has done a really nice job thus far.
Can you walk us through what the thinking was at the time you made it?
If it was just Leon coming to you saying, we need a change, if you guys collectively thought the team needed a different voice in the locker room, and what was the genesis of moving on from Tom?
I don't want to put words in your mouth.
Do you mean like not using the bench that much, the style of play?
So part of that's develop players that become trade pieces, develop players that obviously become valuable depth guys off your bench.
Well, he's the guy that, you know, he likes playing the veterans.
He likes playing the guys that, you know, buy into his system.
And guys like that, he has throughout his career have a shelf life, right?
And he got to an Eastern Conference final.
You guys collectively had to have felt that while the run was great, and he gets a lot of credit for being a part of the Nick turnaround, that you couldn't win a title with him.
That had to be the thinking.