Former Knicks head coach David Fizdale joined Stan Van Gundy, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, and Lloyd Pierce as members of the Committee Racial Justice and Reform this week. The National Basketball Coaches Association created this grassroots movement to enact change against racial discrimination and police brutality in light of what happened to George Floyd, who was killed by officer Derek Chauvin after the fired and jailed Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee on the victim’s neck for nearly nine minutes on Memorial Day.
Good thing for Fizdale that Knicks owner and CEO James Dolan fired him, so he could do something for a great cause. If the Knicks employed Fizdale still, Dolan would put the kibosh on his head coach doing anything that would distract him from doing his job.
In other words, Dolan would have told his coach to stick to sports, and not get involved with social issues that would become a distraction to the owner.
I can say it with conviction because Dolan has a history of muzzling his employees. He did it again this week when an email surfaced about him telling his employees not to say a word about the latest current event or social issues since no one from his company is qualified. Whatever. He does not get it, and he never will.
What can anyone expect from an owner who was born with a silver spoon? Like Donald Trump, Dolan inherited money and fortune from his father and did not work a day in his life. He is too stupid to get it and understand what African-Americans deal with, and if his African-American employees say it, it would expose him in a bad light. That’s his reasoning to why Dolan does not want anyone saying a word.
After criticism, Dolan had someone ghostwrite his statement about racism being wrong. He was better off saying nothing because what he said means nothing now when he originally said no one is qualified.
What Dolan said to begin with came off as insulting. To say African-Americans are not qualified shows he thinks they are dumb to say anything. We all know that’s not the reason he did not want them to speak, but to say something like that indirectly makes it that much worse.
Is it any wonder why Dolan can’t get Kevin Durant, LeBron James or any star to play for his organization? Who would want to work under these conditions? Not that Dolan would get worked up about them not playing for him because quite frankly, he preferred athletes to shut up and play and him to be the face of the Knicks.
African-American athletes are smarter than people give credit for. They understand the issues, and there’s nothing wrong in trying to make a difference and make society a better place. The idea players should shut up and dribble does not make sense. It’s time to raise awareness about social issues such as racial injustice and police awareness that plagued this country for way too long. It’s time to stop being complicit, and if it means players putting the spotlight on themselves and their teams, so be it.
One would think Dolan would let his employees speak out against racism after his own employee experienced racism in a video chat with fans few months ago. New York Rangers prospect K’Andre Miller dealt with N-words by idiots commenting in a chat. I mean Miller could be that guy that spoke about Floyd.
No human being should experience racial epithets or racial taunts in 2020 or really never. Yet here we are, and this was a chance for Dolan to go all in on this. Once again, he failed Miller and his Knicks players by not having him or Knicks players say something about what happened to Floyd.
I attended a protest at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday. I experienced the younger generation of so many different races joining each other to fight a common cause in putting an end to police brutality. Those people offered more of a clue than Dolan ever will.
Maybe Dolan likes the way it is now and the way it all has been from his childhood. Knowing how he conducts himself, it’s safe to say that’s how he feels.
The sad thing is he put his players in a position where they can’t defend themselves since they can’t say a word. This is just another reason why Dolan is so power-hungry rather than provide an environment for players to succeed. Why play for an owner like that?
Is it any wonder why the Rangers and Knicks have been abject failures under Dolan since he ran those teams in 2001?
Little things like this. The micro makes up the macro for everything that goes bad with his two teams, especially the Knicks.
