Fansided

James Dolan is basically the worst person ever

ByFanSided Staff|
Mar 18, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan introduces New York Knicks new president of basketball operations Phil Jackson (not pictured) at a press conference at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan introduces New York Knicks new president of basketball operations Phil Jackson (not pictured) at a press conference at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

James Dolan, the owner of the New York Knicks, decided to rehire Isiah Thomas as President to take control of basketball operations for the New York Liberty.

James Dolan has made mistake after mistake when it comes to the New York Knicks. Everyone can see that by how bad they have been since he took control of the organization. Now, Dolan is making some questionable decisions regarding his organization in general. Isiah Thomas was just re-hired as the president by the Madison Square Garden corporation, the company that owns both the Knicks and Liberty, of the New York Liberty to oversee basketball operations for the professional women’s basketball team.

Thomas was released from the organization in 2008 following an incident that cost Madison Square Garden almost $12 million dollars. He was involved in a sexual harassment case where he was accused by Anucha Browne Sanders, a marketing executive within the organization, of referring to her as exploitative derogatory words and trying to solicit her company outside of work. Thomas was found guilty, but was not charged any punitive damages. MSG took the financial hit and was placed with most of the blame for Thomas harassing Sanders. The two time NBA champion’s reputation would take a huge hit and has been absent from the MSG organization ever since.

But now he is going to be in charge of an entire women’s professional team. To justify his reasoning surrounding this decision, James Dolan released this statement surrounding the potential backlash by people in general.

Well done, Dolan. You just proved that you are not only an awful owner of a professional basketball organization and are to be mostly blamed for Carmelo Anthony’s lack of playoff wins. But also that you are an awful human being.

I get it. You don’t think Isiah did the things he was accused and convicted of, but in the court system and society itself that doesn’t matter. He was convicted of sexual harassment of a woman and you are putting him in charge of an entire organization that is based off the success of the women who play on the basketball team.

This is a little more than simply misguided.

Additionally, your justification that Isiah “belongs in basketball” doesn’t cover up what he did. As a society, we shouldn’t give people a pass because they were great at what they did on the basketball court. This is exactly what this is. If Isiah Thomas wasn’t a professional basketball player who won two NBA titles there is no way he would be re-hired after the scandal that was associated with his name back in 2007.

James Dolan should reconsider his stance on this re-hiring. The issue is not whether or not Isiah Thomas is capable of being in charge of basketball operations for a professional organization, it’s whether or not he should be an employee for an organization he wronged by doing something despicable and immoral. Dolan justifying his decision with the statement above proves that former professional athletes can do whatever they want and get away with it in New York.

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