James Dolan
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James L. Dolan (born 1956) is Chairman of the Board of Cablevision Systems Incorporated -- parent company of the Madison Square Garden corporation, in New York City. James Dolan is well-known for his stewardship of the professional sports teams that Madison Square Garden (MSG) owns: the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks, the National Hockey League's New York Rangers, and the WNBA's New York Liberty. Dolan's financial success as a sports franchise owner have been mixed with competitive failure and other controversies.
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[edit] Controversies
[edit] NY Rangers
Under Dolan, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons beginning with the 1997-1998 season. This was the longest playoff drought in franchise history. Dolan refused to heed fan and media calls for the team's general manager Glen Sather to be fired for the shortcomings.
In recent years, the Rangers have enjoyed moderate success and made the playoffs consistently since the 2005-2006 season.
[edit] NY Knicks
Like the Rangers the Knicks have suffered in recent years. Dolan has come under fire from many Knicks fans for more dubious player-personnel decisions by his organization. In a recent Sports Illustrated players poll, received the most votes as the worst owner in the NBA.
[edit] Player Personnel
Many fans are frustrated with player personnel decisions of the team. One example was the decision to give shooting guard Allan Houston a 6-year, $100 million contract in 2001, when no other team had offered Houston more than $75 million. However a straight comparisons of offer amounts is misleading because of the rules of the Larry Bird exception of the NBA Salary Cap.
Houston retired due to injury after just four seasons, and the Knicks only reached the playoffs once during his time there. More recently,
[edit] Coaching Changes
After the 2004-2005 season, the Knicks signed head coach Larry Brown to a 5 year, $50 million contract. After just one (losing) season, Brown was fired obligated the Knicks to buy-out Brown's contract for $18 million. Brown walked away with a total of $28 million for coaching the Knicks for just one year.
Other recent coaches of the Knicks also had short tenures including Don Cheney (2001-2003) and Lenny Wilkens (2003-2005). Both are also currently receiving salary after being offered long term contracts, but are not coaching the team.
Upon the firing of Larry Brown, President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas assumed duties as head coach of the Knicks.
[edit] Isiah Thomas Sexual Harrassment
In 2006 former team employee Anucha Browne Sanders accused Dolan and Thomas of sexually harassing her personally and creating a hostile work environment. In a civil trial brought by Ms. Sanders The team was found guilty based partially on Thomas' conduct (although Thomas himself was not personally found guilty). The case was settled at a cost of over $11,000,000. Thomas kept his job following this incident despite numerous calls from fans and within the media for him to be fired.
[edit] Extracurricular Activities
[edit] Blues Band
Dolan performs blues-inspired rock as the singer for JD and the Straight Shot.
