NEW YORK _ Madison Square Garden executive chairman and Knicks owner James Dolan appeared on "The Michael Kay Show" on ESPN New York radio on Tuesday to address an incident on Saturday in which he confronted a fan after a loss to the Kings at Madison Square Garden, painting the incident as a confrontation planned by the fan who yelled at him to "sell the team."
He vowed he has no plans to do that.
Asked what happened, Dolan said, "Look, let me just start off that I do understand that for the fans it's about winning and losing, and we haven't been doing much winning, and there's a real big frustration there. We get it. I don't like losing, either. In fact, I probably like it less than almost anybody."
Regarding the incident, he said, "It's pretty easy. It appears that this gentleman and his friends planned to do this. That they just before the game they cleared their profiles out. We have video which shows them moving from one side of the arena to the other and pointing to me to set this ambush up and they did. Then as soon as they were done with it, it was immediately sold to TMZ. But look, not for nothing but I shouldn't have taken the bait."
When host Peter Rosenberg suggested Dolan had "walked into it," Dolan said, "I did. We had just lost, again, and believe it or not I get frustrated with it, too."
Dolan said he does not mind most comments from fans, saying, "You hear all kinds of stuff. What is a problem is when someone becomes confrontational. And these people were there for a confrontation."
Asked why he continues to sit courtside, he said, "I could hide. I've been sitting there for 25 years. A, I like the seats. They're pretty good. B, I like fans to know I'm engaged ... There are owners who don't even live in the cities where their teams play ... We're home. We're here. We're experiencing the wins and the losses with the fans, and we care."
He said of the fan who urged him to sell the team, "What he is really saying is quit. It's not saying sell the team. It's, 'Quit.' ... Just for the record, I am not selling the team, and I am not quitting.
"Most of the fans get it, they really do. ... Take a look at our record, and then take a look at our attendance."
Asked whether he is concerned incidents such as Saturday's will dissuade free agents from coming he said, "No, New York is the Mecca of basketball ... I can tell you from what we've heard I think we're going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents."
Dolan said he initially planned to invite the fan back and reach out by having him meet some players. But after it became clear the episode was planned, he said, "I can't see letting him back in."
