Once again, the New York Knicks are in the news for the wrong reasons. Knicks superfan, Spike Lee, was recently harassed by Madison Square Garden security guards because of the entrance he chose to use while he was entering the building. Lee appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” and told his side of the story explaining that he’s used that same entrance into MSG for the past 20 years and then some. The team owner, James Dolan, has been running the Knicks into the ground. The franchise’s mystique has evaporated. MSG is called the “Mecca of Basketball,” but no superstar level players want to play for the franchise.

This is not the first time that Dolan has started an unnecessary beef with one of the franchise’s most recognized faces. In 2017, he ordered MSG security to escort franchise legend, Charles Oakley, out of the building. Oakley was arrested at MSG because they claimed he was being inappropriate and behaving in an abusive manner. After the incident, the Knicks released a statement and tried to start a narrative that ‘Oakley needs help because he has a drinking problem.’ This type of behavior should be beneath a franchise that has the name recognition of the Knicks. A legend like Oakley shouldn’t be treated this way.

If the Knicks wanted Lee to use another entrance, they should have just called him and informed him before he arrived at the arena, but it’s the Knicks so nobody should expect them to make a rational decision. Alongside everything that happens off the court, the Knicks are also a mess on the court. They fired their head coach, David Fizdale, during the season because they said the team wasn’t performing up to their expectations. Just 10 games in, the Knicks were angling to fire Fizdale, who was just two years into his tenure with the team. This was idiotic thinking on the franchise’s part because no one believed that the Knicks were going to be a good team this season. Everyone expected the team to be one of the worst in the NBA because of what they did in free agency during the offseason.

Free agency in 2019 was when a lot of people thought that the Knicks were going to get Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and draft Zion Williamson. This was wishful thinking, but Knicks fans and a lot of other people bought into the hype. However, they ended up with role players and drafted RJ Barrett. Durant recently spoke out about the team being a free agency destination, “the cool thing is not the Knicks right now.” This was a huge indictment against them coming from a player with his magnitude.

Dolan is the biggest problem for the Knicks at the moment, but Steve Mills was also one of the driving forces behind the Knicks playing terribly during his tenure as team president. Mills was in charge of putting the roster together and he did an awful job. During his tenure, the Knicks were 178-365: a winning percentage of 32 percent. The way he constructed the roster this season made no sense to anyone who knows Basketball. During free agency over the summer, Mills signed four players who played the same position. He signed Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Marcus Morris, and Bobby Portis. All four of these players played power forward.

Their additions didn’t make any sense because teams are moving more toward acquiring wing players who can do a variety of things on the court. Also, the Knicks backcourt isn’t very good and the team didn’t do a lot to add depth to that position group. The only good thing that the Knicks did during the offseason draft Barrett. Mills was eventually fired during the season. He was gone a couple of days before the trade deadline, which also made no sense to rational-minded people. They should have just let him go either before the season or the same time they fired their head coach. 

The Knicks fans are also another reason why the team is in this position. They should stop showing up to the games in order to make a statement against Dolan. The situation in New York needs fixing, but it will begin to turn around the moment Dolan sells the team.

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Spike Lee cheers for his team