Knicks owner James Dolan resigns from NBA Board of Governors committee

New York Knicks owner James Dolan resigned from his position as an influential member of the NBA’s board of directors ahead of an unorthodox lawsuit against the Toronto Raptors that included allegations questioning NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s objectivity, according to an obtained memo. Positions on the Force’s Advisory/Finance and Media Committees. Reported by ESPN.

“Given everything that has happened recently, I have concluded that the NBA neither needs nor wants my input,” Dolan wrote in a July memo to Silver, which he copied to 29 other league owners.

Dolan also informed Silver and his colleagues that he planned to no longer attend board meetings, the memo said. While Dolan did not give up his team’s voting rights, he said he would ask Knicks general counsel Jamal Lesane to represent the organization at BOG meetings, the memo said. Sources told ESPN that this shift has already occurred.

“I want the Knicks to be treated equally and fairly like all other NBA teams,” Dolan said in the memo. “…As you know, I am very busy with all my responsibilities at MSG Family of Companies. I need to use my time where it can be most productive.”

In two recent unanimous votes, Dolan voted against Michael Jordan leaving the Charlotte Hornets for teams led by Rick Schnarr and Gabe Plotkin and the WNBA, sources told ESPN. San Francisco expands.

Sources told ESPN that Dolan has become increasingly critical of the league and Silver over the years on a number of issues, including the NBA’s revenue-sharing system. Dolan expressed dissatisfaction with elements of the system that require big-market teams like the Knicks to share significantly higher revenues with smaller-market teams.

In a court filing Monday, the Knicks said they are seeking more than $10 million in damages from the Raptors as part of a lawsuit alleging thousands of confidential documents were stolen and argued Silver should not arbitrated the dispute in part because of his close relationship with Raptors governor Larry Tanenbaum.

ESPN’s Baxter Holmes obtained the Knicks’ document in response to the Raptors’ Oct. 16 motion to dismiss the Knicks’ initial complaint and have Silver arbitrate the dispute .

In Monday’s filing, the Knicks also argued that Tanenbaum’s position as chairman of the NBA’s Board of Governors would create a conflict of interest because “Tanenbaum, in his role as Silver’s owner, exercises control over Silver’s continued employment and salary. rights and have a serious impact.” Additionally, the Knicks pointed to the friendship between Silver and Tanenbaum.

Among other things, Tanenbaum was described as a “close ally of Commissioner Adam Silver,” the Knicks wrote. Silver himself described Tanenbaum as “not only my boss as chairman of the board, but he was a role model in my life. “If Silver presides over this instant dispute, he will arbitrate the case for his bosses and allies.”

The Knicks’ lawsuit relies largely on a practice that’s fairly commonplace among coaches and developers changing jobs: bringing documents and notes from the different programs they implemented as part of their former team.

ESPN’s Baxter Holmes and Seth Wickersham contributed to this report.