The focus of James L. Dolan’s attention is his new Las Vegas super-arena, called the Sphere, which includes 700,000 square feet of video screens and will open with a series of mostly sold out U2 concerts next week.
But in several interviews over the past five months for a New York Times profile published this week, Mr. Dolan, who controls the companies that own Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Knicks and the Rangers, had a lot of eye-opening things to say about his New York sports teams — as well as his feud with a former Knicks star, Charles Oakley; a potential renovation of Penn Station; and why it is OK to criticize the basketball team but not its owner. Here are some highlights.
Not a Fan of Team-Owning
Before deciding to build the Sphere, Mr. Dolan had considered expanding his sports portfolio, perhaps by buying a baseball or soccer team. He decided against it, saying he finds the economics of major league sports “kind of sleepy.” Though the Knicks and Rangers are “near and dear to my heart,” he said, “I don’t really like owning teams.”
A Wish for Mr. Oakley
In 2017, Mr. Oakley, the Knicks all-star and a vocal critic of Mr. Dolan, was ejected from the stands at the Garden during a game between the Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers. In a spectacle before fans and cameras, a physical altercation broke out between Mr. Oakley and eight security guards and police officers as they tried to remove him.
James Dolan on Owning the Knicks: ‘You’re Not Beloved Until You’re Dead’
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