LAS VEGAS — Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan was not present at the board of governors meeting Tuesday afternoon, but he was still in the hot seat when NBA commissioner Adam Silver held his final news conference hours later.
Dolan recently sent a letter to the Board of Governors, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, outlining some of his grievances with the new television deal the NBA is finalizing negotiations on.
Dolan resigned from his position on the league’s financial/advisory and media committees in November, writing a memo to Silver and the 29 other owners in which he said: “Given all that has transpired recently, I have come to the conclusion that the NBA neither needs nor wants my advice.”
But it was in this last missive that he expressed his opinion.
While Silver has spoken about the league’s new television deal – albeit only in general terms with questions still to be resolved – he has declined to respond to Dolan’s letter in the media.
“My response is to try to keep these issues in the family,” Silver said. “And I would say yes, Jim Dolan sent a letter to his partner teams and the league office. It was certainly discussed in our meetings. But I don’t think it’s appropriate to get into the specifics of what was discussed in our meeting.”
Another issue Silver finds himself embroiled in is the lawsuit the Knicks filed against the Toronto Raptors, which was dismissed by a federal court, sending it back to the NBA for resolution, which is the path outlined in the league’s constitution.
The Knicks argued the commissioner could not fairly decide the matter because of his close relationship with Raptors owner and chairman Larry Tannenbaum.
Asked about the court’s decision and his reaction to the Knicks’ assertion that it could not resolve the dispute fairly, Silver also remained vague.
“I won’t answer the second part of your question,” Silver said. “The first part is that we received notice of the court’s decision and we’re working through those issues at the league office as we speak.”
Jamaal Lesane, who was named Madison Square Garden’s chief operating officer last week, represented the Knicks at the board of governors meeting.
