The Knicks Said They Wouldn’t Put Out A Public Statement About Racism And, A Week Later, Here’s What They Came Up With

PREVIOUSLY: Knicks Owner James Dolan Sends An Email Saying That He’s Not Going To Issue A Public Statement About George Floyd, Knicks Players & Employees Reportedly Furious

A little over a week ago, sports teams and companies everywhere all chimed in about the death of George Floyd and the subsequent protests across the country. Even Gushers chimed in!

But the Knicks being the Knicks and James Dolan being James Dolan, here’s what he sent to his employees as they reportedly were infuriated at the lack of public solidarity:

And now, eight days later, the Knicks have entered the chat. Here’s what they and James Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Entertainment group have to say:

See more

pic.twitter.com/q1Ui8N29ai

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) June 9, 2020

The only person who may be a fan of that statement would be Gal Gadot and the celebrity “Imagine” quartet.

Even as someone who’s been pretty vocal on social media about the importance of getting behind our Black friends and peers and the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s been a bit odd to see so many companies tweeting about this. It was just as odd to get missives from every company who’s ever data mined my email address about what they were going to do about COVID-19 and how seriously they were taking it.

But the reality is that if you’re a sports team, one who likely employs a lot of high profile Black athletes, you needed to say something publicly to make those people feel heard. Let alone all the front office employees, arena workers, all of the Black people and people of color who just need some degree of solace to know they’re not working for people who don’t give a damn about them.

And now, after a long silence, that’s what all the Knicks and MSG employees get. It’s the equivalent of being a kid in school who turns in a research paper a week late only for it to be pieced together parts of a newspaper like a ransom letter with just a half-assed conclusion. And even that would require more effort and thought than what James Dolan and company did here. At least there’s some degree of crafting to cutting out all those tiny letters and gluing them to a page.

James Dolan and the Knicks continue to redefine incompetency in a variety of ways. Here’s hoping some juicy fruit candies with better social awareness (and probably as good of talent evaluation, team building, and coaching skills) take over the team soon.

---

Check us out on TWITTER, where we talk sports, share articles, and have lots of giveaways!