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Friday’s Hot Clicks: Thin-Skinned Knicks Owner Also Kicked Fan Out of Music Festival

James Dolan is aboslutely incapable of taking any criticism. 

Dan Gartland

Kevin DiStasio/Twitter, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Toughen up, Jim

In addition to being the worst owner in the NBA, James Dolan is also the most insecure. 

Last weekend, during yet another Knicks loss, a fan yelled at Dolan as he walked down the tunnel that he should sell the team. Dolan responded by kicking the fan out of the Garden and said Monday in a radio interview that he had banned the fan for life. Just for telling him to sell the team! The fan didn’t even say anything rude to Dolan like, for example, that he’s a terrible businessman who has never accomplished anything on his own and would be nobody if he hadn’t inherited his father’s fortune or if the government broke up cable monopolies.

It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that in the aftermath of that incident, more examples of Dolan being a baby have come out. One Tennessee-based Knicks fan showed up to Dolan’s band’s set at a music festival in Chattanooga last fall with a sign telling Dolan to sell the team. 

And how did Dolan react? Did he just ignore it? Did he chuckle at the clever twist on “don’t quit your day job”? No, he told the guy to leave.

“I’m gonna invite you to leave,” Dolan said. “What do you say? So everybody else can have a good time. OK, can you do that now? Thank you. Goodbye.”

What a pathetic, petulant bully. When you’re a person as rich and powerful as Dolan—especially if you own a basketball team as bad as the Knicks and play in a band as lame as JD & The Straight Shot—you have to expect you’ll be criticized and let it roll off your back. But Dolan is so deeply insecure that that’s impossible. Even the mildest criticisms set him off. I can’t wait until the Knicks’ next home game on Sunday to see how he reacts to 18,000 fans chanting “Sell the team!”

What’s your take?

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This is a stupid idea, even by NFL standards

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Watch No. 55 very closely

So Zdeno Chara’s stick lift lifts Mark Scheifele’s stick all the way up almost into the stands. Chara clears, Scheifele retrieves the stick and uses it to score a goal. 

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Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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