Dolan said he would become more involved politically, specifically in N.Y.NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Knicks Owner JAMES DOLAN is "pouring cash into the effort to help GOP Congressional candidate NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS beat incumbent Democratic Staten Island Rep. MAX ROSE -- all because Rose recently trash-talked his ownership of the perennially losing" franchise, according to Jon Levine of the N.Y. POST. Dolan, in a personal email to friends last week that was obtained by the N.Y. Post, wrote, "Max Rose thinks he can make our team and my ownership his political platform. I need to let him know that we will not stand for this. The best way to do this is to help his opponent." The email's recipients "included other NBA owners." Rose previously "complained to TMZ of the billionaire’s mismanagement of the basketball team, accusing him of 'driving the team into the ground.'" Rose said, "Dolan's gotta sell." Dolan said that neither Malliotakis nor Rose had been "on his radar before the dustup, but that it was inappropriate for a sitting Congressman to politicize the team." Dolan: "It's not like we're unaware that fans are unhappy with the Knicks performance." Dolan added that New Yorkers "should expect to see him become more politically active in the future, as his Madison Square Garden 'hemorrhages' money as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns." He said, "We're going to start taking more aggressive positions, particularly in New York politics" (N.Y. POST, 9/27).
