Nightmare in New York
In the decade before Donnie Walsh arrived in New York, the Knicks had deteriorated from a flagship franchise into a league-wide laughing stock. Under the regime of Isiah Thomas, and Scott Layden before him, the Knicks had become losers in the truest sense of the word. Both on the court and off the floor, New York became a national punch line.
Then in 2008, owner Jim Dolan, after being prompted by David Stern, finally fired Isiah and hired Donnie Walsh. It was an incredible turning point for this franchise.
When Walsh arrived, the organization was in shambles. The roster was teeming with bloated contracts nobody wanted. Walsh did the unthinkable and the presumed impossible, gutting the roster and somehow getting below the salary cap, which was the first step. Then he found a way to bring in two legit superstars to fortify the franchise.
Just as importantly (as we have detailed in this space before), Walsh not only created cap space, and not only brought in talented players, and not only brought back hope and optimism to New York City; he also brought class and respectability back to the organization, something this franchise desperately needed.
The praise for the work Donnie did can not be overstated. Thus, it was imperative that owner James Dolan and the Knicks allow him to stay on to complete this project he began three long years ago.
We learned today that Walsh will never get that chance. The Knicks released the following statement earlier this morning: “Following a long series of discussions regarding his future role with the New York Knicks, Donnie Walsh and I have mutually agreed that he will be leaving his position as president, basketball operations of the Knicks at the end of June. Donnie will remain with the team as a consultant for the 2011-12 season. In a relatively short time with the Knicks, Donnie made a tremendous impact, which will be felt for many years to come. We thank Donnie for his leadership, hard work and many contributions to the revitalization of the team.”
And just like that, all the hope and optimism Knick fans had carried over from last season, which saw a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2004, and the first winning season since 2001, was dealt a severe blow.
Sadly, no one in New York was truly shocked. Unfortunately, Knicks fans have come to expect heartbreak and disappointment; they are all too familiar with the rest of the country shaking their head in exasperation, while others point and laugh. And that is exactly where the Knicks find themselves today. It was impossible not to notice the incredible strides the Knicks had taken under Walsh’s stewardship. Still, Donnie’s job was not yet finished. There was a lot of work left to do here. The roster remains only partially complete.
And with so much of the Knicks future still unresolved, Walsh’s patience and expertise were invaluable.
Now, with Walsh kicked to the curb, it is anyone’s guess as to who will run the franchise going forward. The Knicks announced that Glen Grunwald would take the reigns in the interim general manager.
At approximately 1:30 PM, Donnie Walsh addressed he media and answered a few questions. He stated that his advanced age and questionable health were major issues, and he confirmed that he wasn’t sure he could commit to a long-term deal. However, he clearly intimated that he would have been willing to work for at least one more year (at least). Dolan balked, apparently wanting a multi-year agreement. “I’m not sure I’m I can commit to that, because I’m getting older,” said Walsh.
{AUTHOR_BOX}Walsh, a true professional, exited the scene gracefully. Yet, reading between the lines, you could see Dolan’s fingerprints on his back, pushing him out the back door. In fact, the New York Daily News is now reporting that Dolan’s contract offer to Donnie included a 40 percent pay cut. Alan Han of Newsday reposts that the extension talks included a reduction in salary, from $5 million to $2 million.
For money to even be an issue – well, that’s a complete joke. This is a franchise that spent upwards of $100 million on salary (not to mention lawsuit settlements) with Isiah in charge. Yet Zeke’s teams did nothing but lose basketball games and embarrass the franchise and the city as whole.
To quibble over cash or an extra year or two added on to the back end of a deal, is downright disgraceful. The worst part is that the big losers in this mess are the Knick fans that have supported this team through thick and thin. Welcome back to thin… Just when it appeared that it was safe to come back to MSG, the air is once again been polluted.
Dolan’s regretful decision creates incredible uncertainly and results in many new questions: Who will replace Walsh? Is D’Antoni’s job still safe?
Whether or not this creates a doomsday scenario in New York is unknown. We will have to wait and see who is tabbed run the franchise on a day-to-day basis.
There will be plenty of time to address all that, and we will soon enough. However, the take home point today is that so much of the positive energy and momentum the Knicks had built up with Walsh in charge has been unnecessarily sacrificed. Dolan’s inability to leave good enough alone has set the Knicks back in a major way. After a few steps forward, today represented a significant step back. What makes it especially hard to swallow for Knicks fans is that this happened for no good reason; simply the whims of an incompetent and impetuous owner.
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