SI

Loud ‘Sell the Team’ Chant Breaks Out as Knicks Embarrassed by Grizzlies

In Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Knicks fans are fed up with James Dolan, a rumor about the Seattle NHL team and more.

Dan Gartland

Loud ‘Sell the Team’ Chant Breaks Out as Knicks Embarrassed by Grizzlies
Loud ‘Sell the Team’ Chant Breaks Out as Knicks Embarrassed by Grizzlies /

Just do it already, Jim

Knicks owner James Dolan sits courtside with Colin Jost
Brad Penner/USA Today Sports

James Dolan is one of my five least favorite Americans (politicians excluded). I can’t stand the guy. Everything he has in life is a direct result of having inherited his father’s cable company. He’s gotten rich off of running two entirely foolproof businesses: a literal monopoly and an NBA franchise. Cablevision and the Madison Square Garden Company would have printed money no matter who was in charge, but Dolan thinks being the boss makes him important. 

The worst thing about Dolan is that he’s incredibly stubborn and petty. The Knicks have been nothing short of a laughing stock under his control. He could sell the team, cash out for billions of dollars (to add to the billions he already has) and tour the country with his goofy blues-rock band for the rest of his life. But not only does he refuse to do that, he takes great offense when anyone suggests he does. When one fan told Dolan to “sell the team” as he walked through the tunnel last year, Dolan responded by banning the fan from MSG for life. Pathetic. 

That’s what made the final seconds of last night’s Knicks game so satisfying. I’ve been wondering for the past couple seasons when Knicks fans would finally band together and vocalize their displeasure en masse. It finally happened at the end of a blowout at the hands of the Grizzlies. 

With 48 seconds left, Knicks point guard Elfrid Payton sparked a melee by leveling Jae Crowder after a three-point attempt. As the officials attempted to restore order to the court, the few fans left in the Garden erupted in a rather forceful “sell the team” chant. 

You can hear it if you listen closely on the game broadcast but it’s clear as day in this video. 

Dolan, obviously, wasn’t happy with that. According to the New York Post’s Marc Berman, he tried to get arena security to do something about the chanting. 

Dolan shouted at security during the chanting and according to a source, Dolan singled out a teenager because he was the chanting fan closest to the Knicks owner. Dolan’s on record as stating he does not appreciate when fans heckle him about giving up his ownership of the team.

If I was the most hated man in New York and thousands of people joined together in unison to tell me how I bad I was at my job, I would simply find another job. But that’s just me. 

Does the Seattle NHL team have a name?

There’s a rumor going around that the NHL expansion team in Seattle has settled on “Kraken” as its nickname. The team denies it, though. 

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The proposed ownership group filed trademark requests in January 2018 for 13 potential team names. After the franchise was officially awarded, I ranked all the name options and Kraken came in dead last.

Here’s what I wrote at the time:

Naming your team after a mythical creature is an extremely minor-league move. It’s an especially bad idea when that creature has no real tie to the region. The Kraken is a monster with origins in the north Atlantic, not the Pacific Northwest.

I also realize now how annoying it would be to have another team that isn’t plural. It just makes talking about the team so grammatically awkward. 

My favorite option remains “Sockeyes,” but we’ll see what happens. 

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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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