Are the Knicks the Worst Franchise in Sports?
By: John McCormack
Imagine being a fan of the worst franchise in sports. No, we’re not talking about the Jets. But we are talking about another New York team. With all of the NBA’s top free agents gone, the Knicks have proved that they are incapable of signing top tier free agents. But why? This is a team that is the second most popular sports team in New York, plays at the Mecca — MSG, and can brand any superstar globally.
The Knicks started to suck, or not strive for championship level basketball after the 1999 season. This was also the same year that current owner, James Dolan acquired the team. 1999 was also the Knicks last championship appearance. The Knicks haven’t had a winning record since the 2012-2013 season with Carmelo Anthony, and have had zero luck with this whole tanking thing.
But the real question is, how incompetent is the management? Like any work place, the way it is run and its culture starts at the top, and James Dolan might be the worst boss in America. With that being said, if management sucks then so won’t the employees, staff, fans, etc. The Knicks have been the laughing stock of not just the NBA, but also all of professional sports. They have drafted some terrible players, signed some atrocious contracts, and have made some head-scratching trades. All of the Knicks major problems came when they signed Phil Jackson to become their President of Basketball Operations. It seemed like the right thing to do. Hire a proven championship coach to run your front office and to mold them into the Bulls and Lakers that Jackson has worked with before. However, Jackson did everything wrong. He was absolutely terrible at his job.
Once Dolan sucked up his pride and fired him, you’d think they would hire the right guy to lead. Wrong. The Knicks can never hire the right guy because the person hiring them is the wrong person. All of the Knicks problems start and end with James Dolan not being able to take a step back. Both Jackson and Steve Mills (current GM and President) are required to answer to a person who can’t dribble a basketball. I’m not knocking Dolan’s accomplishments, but let people who know basketball stick to basketball. Not have someone who has never played before dictate over basketball decisions.
When the reports came out that Kevin Durant didn’t sign with the Knicks because they didn’t offer him a max contract was LOL funny.
The Knicks were not prepared to offer KD a max contract due to concerns about his Achilles injury, sources tell @ramonashelburne and @wojespn. pic.twitter.com/eDCysGYlIE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 30, 2019
Every Knick fan was probably thinking “How did Dolan screw this up.” Well, he did by not opening his checkbook.
So now the Knicks are stuck with these guys:
The Knicks missed out on Kyrie and KD, but they have still been active in free agency. pic.twitter.com/6vfOgfKwnJ
— ESPN (@espn) July 2, 2019
Who aren’t a bad group. Honestly, most of these guys can play. But seeing the free agent class and all the reports this year of Kyrie and KD coming to play there and then having them not is tough to see. But this is what happens when you have incompetent management.
-John McCormack (@Uncle_Mac4)