Translation Founder & CEO Steve Stoute, who serves as the Knicks' branding manager, defended team Owner James Dolan's work, "lauding him for paying massive amounts of money to turn the Knicks around," according to Marc Berman of the N.Y. POST. Stoute said, "Dolan is misunderstood. He's certainly brash. As a sports fan, I love an owner willing to invest and pay for talent. It's a risky business. When you go get Phil Jackson, there's a guy who spent a ton of money to get Phil and he failed. And he went out and got Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo (Anthony). They're trying and spending money. It doesn't always work out the way you want it to be." He added, "If you have a strong argument, he listens. If you don't have a strong argument, he'll run you over." On his role with the team, Stoute said, "My No. 1 job is do what I do best -- rebranding. The Knicks are one of the greatest sports brands in the world. Obviously, we got work to do on the court with the team but branding aspects, there's so much we can do with merchandising and apparel, making great advertising to get people excited about this global brand" (N.Y. POST, 8/4).
