James Dolan vs. the NBA: Why the Knicks owner is at odds with the league

In his Manhattan office, James Dolan has a poster that offers a glimpse into his mindset. It features a phrase he often uses when confronted with situations where he feels the terms set by others are unfavorable. This motto is not just a slogan but a reflection of how Dolan operates, both personally and professionally.

Dolan is one of the most recognizable figures in professional sports ownership. As the longtime leader of the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s Rangers, and the iconic Madison Square Garden, he has commanded these entities for over two decades. While the Rangers have generally been seen as a well-run organization, the Knicks have been notorious for their struggles, making Dolan a polarizing figure in the country’s largest city.

Throughout his tenure, Dolan has never shied away from confrontation. He has engaged in disputes with a wide range of adversaries, including Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets, various attorneys challenging Madison Square Garden, his own team’s fans, a beloved franchise legend, and several New York City politicians. Even his own father, Charles Dolan, has been among those he has clashed with over the direction of the company that James took over as CEO in 1995.

Recently, Dolan and his Knicks have been at odds with the NBA and its commissioner, Adam Silver. Over the past two years, tensions have escalated as Dolan has become increasingly vocal about his grievances with the league’s operations. His frustrations have led to formal complaints, letters, and even a lawsuit against another NBA team. Every board of governors meeting has become a potential battleground, with the next one set to take place later this month.

Many who have worked with Dolan or within the NBA see his longstanding discontent as rooted in the league’s revenue-sharing model, which aims to balance financial disparities between large- and small-market teams. However, his frustration has also grown in response to shifts in the league’s media landscape, particularly as MSG Networks, one of Dolan’s other ventures, faces increasing challenges.

For a man accustomed to wielding significant control over his enterprises, Dolan appears to perceive the NBA’s governance as an encroachment on his authority. The central question is whether his resistance will stop at these current conflicts or serve as a precursor to a larger standoff.

In May, Dolan sent a letter to the NBA’s board of governors declaring his intent to vote against the expansion of a WNBA team in Toronto. While the measure ultimately passed with support from the other 29 NBA teams, his four-paragraph letter served as a pointed critique of the league. He claimed that, for months, he and the Knicks had been seeking more transparency regarding the NBA’s spending and financial structure. His opposition to the WNBA’s previous expansion into San Francisco stemmed from the same unresolved concerns—how exactly would this expansion benefit the NBA and its teams?

By explicitly stating his intent to obstruct league initiatives until sufficient financial disclosures were made, Dolan positioned himself as a persistent adversary to the NBA’s agenda.

Dolan and the Knicks have long maintained a strained relationship with the league office, if not an outright adversarial one. When asked about these tensions, NBA spokesperson Mike Bass declined to comment, stating that the league does not publicly discuss internal disputes between its teams. However, this is not merely a disagreement between two franchises—it is a direct conflict between the NBA and one of its most high-profile owners.

Former employees of both Madison Square Garden and the NBA describe Dolan as a combative figure who occasionally selects the league as his opponent. His grievances with Silver have only intensified in recent years, fueling his opposition to multiple league decisions.

Over the past two years alone, Dolan has sent at least four letters to the board of governors, voted against WNBA expansion twice, opposed the NBA’s 2024-25 budget, and resisted the appointment of the league’s board chairman. The Knicks have gone as far as accusing the NBA of harassment and retaliatory actions.

Perhaps the most contentious moment came in 2023, when the Knicks filed a lawsuit against the Toronto Raptors rather than resolving their dispute through the NBA’s internal arbitration system. The Knicks alleged that a former employee had taken confidential team information with him when joining the Raptors, a practice that many league insiders consider routine. In their legal filings, the Knicks argued that Silver could not impartially adjudicate the case due to his close ties with Larry Tanenbaum, the Raptors’ chairman and the head of the NBA’s board of governors. Although a federal judge later ruled that the case should return to league arbitration, a resolution remains pending, with a hearing scheduled for late July.

One former Madison Square Garden executive speculated that the lawsuit was less about the Raptors and more about challenging Silver’s authority. If so, this legal battle may be just the beginning of Dolan’s broader campaign against the league.

An industry executive familiar with both Dolan and Silver described Dolan’s comfort zone as thriving in chaos. “Jim is at his safest when he’s in a fight,” the executive observed.

Since assuming leadership of the Knicks, Madison Square Garden, and the Rangers in 1999, Dolan has faced widespread criticism for the Knicks’ dysfunction. Fans have frequently called for him to sell the team—one such critic was even banned from Madison Square Garden at Dolan’s direction. However, the Knicks have experienced a revival since 2020, when Dolan personally recruited Leon Rose, a former high-profile agent, to lead the franchise. Under Rose’s leadership, the team has become one of the NBA’s most well-run organizations and a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference. Despite this resurgence, Dolan’s friction with the league has persisted.

His primary dispute, according to multiple sources, remains the league’s revenue-sharing system. As one former NBA owner put it, “Dolan has always hated revenue sharing. He’s been against it from the start.” The system, which redistributes money from high-revenue teams like the Knicks to smaller-market franchises, has long been a sore point for him.

Dolan has also resisted league efforts to influence team operations, particularly on the business side. Madison Square Garden is considered the most difficult NBA venue to access, requiring special credentials for entry that are not accepted elsewhere in the league. The Knicks have even attempted to implement stricter media guidelines, proposing a code of conduct that could lead to credential revocation for reporters who fail to comply.

His defiance has surfaced in other ways as well. In 2015, when Dolan attempted to appoint Isiah Thomas as president of the New York Liberty—a WNBA team then owned by MSG—the NBA objected due to Thomas’s history of workplace misconduct. Rather than acquiesce, Dolan reportedly threatened to shut down the franchise rather than remove Thomas. Ultimately, Thomas remained in charge until Dolan sold the team in 2019.

This season, the Knicks accused the NBA of targeting them through an investigation into the promotion of assistant coach Rick Brunson. While the league has not publicly confirmed such an inquiry, MSG Sports labeled it “harassment” stemming from the Knicks’ opposition to certain league policies.

Dolan’s grievances with the NBA have only accumulated over time, spanning issues from media rights to financial transparency. His fundamental objection remains the same: he resists any attempts to dilute his control. As the league and its most controversial owner continue their standoff, it remains to be seen whether Dolan’s opposition is simply posturing or the prelude to a deeper conflict.