Over the past two years, the Knicks organization has been especially critical of the way the NBA handles itself, mostly in the financial department. This is why, once again, owner James Dolan has called for a resolution to be voted that wishes for clearer accounting of the league’s numbers.
According to a letter received this week by the league, the vote should happen during this month’s board of governors meeting. Last September, the New York executive told the press that he wasn’t going to vote on the 2024-25 budget, nor the election of a new chair, as he’s trying to prove a point about the NBA’s management.
He attempt is looking to “increased financial transparency and operating efficiency,” so that franchises can better prepare themselves. This proposed resolution would potentially start during the 2025-26 fiscal year, hoping that the league will “adopt a zero-based method of budgeting operating costs, headcount, and capital expenditures for all League and Affiliate League operations.”
New ESPN story: In a continuation of ongoing criticism of the NBA, Knicks owner James Dolan has asked for a resolution to be voted on at the next Board of Governors meeting asking for clearer accounting of the NBA’s finances, per a letter obtained by ESPN. https://t.co/DPVAIqD1R0
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) March 6, 2025
In this letter, which was signed by Dolan, the Knicks detail how the NBA’s operating budget suddenly rose almost 8% from the year before. “Despite the League’s swelling costs and headcount, the budget materials provided by the League during its annual September budget review are limited in scope,” the letter said.
“Accordingly, to improve the League’s financial transparency and operating efficiency, the Knicks propose that the League adopts a zero-based method of budgeting operating costs, capital expenditures, and headcount for all League operations and initiatives (including Affiliate Leagues, such as the Basketball Africa League, WNBA, and G League),” it reads.
The letter then shines a light on the need for underlying details in finance, stating that “summarized by department and type of expense-including headcount, capital expenditures, and fully-loaded budgeted costs with respect to the League and each of its subsidiaries and Affiliate Leagues”, plus all costs related to the new media deals.
The New York club also told the league that they wished to see the 2025-26 budget, which will be presented during the summer at the NBA’s annual Las Vegas meeting. This way, league franchises could ratify the proposal before the start of the season.
