"Only owner who's always crying" - NBA fans react to James Dolan’s latest letter taking issue with league office 

New York Knicks owner James Dolan recently expressed additional frustration with the NBA's league office, citing financial concerns. However, NBA fans on social media had little sympathy for the billionaire businessman.

On Monday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Dolan sent the league's board of governors a complaint letter. In it, he reportedly outlined his plan to "vote no on the NBA's proposed operating budget for the 2024-25 season and the election of a new BOG chair."

Per Wojnarowski, Dolan attributed his decision to "a lack of transparency on both processes."

Dolan's latest letter comes after he issued a strongly worded letter to the league office in July. His initial letter featured a critique of the NBA's new 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video.

Dolan highlighted his worries about the league's move to streaming and its new revenue-sharing model limiting big-market teams' profitability.

James Dolan's continued gripes with the NBA and reported plan to dissent at Tuesday's BOG meeting in New York prompted fan frustration on X/Twitter.

On Monday, several fans called out Dolan, who has garnered a reputation as one of the league's most difficult owners, for consistently causing drama.

"Why [does] James Dolan always gotta make everything about him?" @phlsportsguru said.

"Why is he the only owner who's always crying about something?" @LAKERSRISE wrote.

"Per usual, Dolan muddying s**t up," @hibsidnolic said.

Meanwhile, others called for Dolan, who has run the Knicks since 1999, to sell the franchise.

"How long until he's gone? Ruining that team," @RegalMill388 said.

"He needs to go, SMH," @GeeBaby_1997 wrote.

---

---

James Dolan says NBA is "taking down successful franchises"

In James Dolan's July letter blasting the NBA's new media rights deal, he underscored how the league is targeting its most successful teams.

According to Dolan, the NBA redistributing portions of its premier franchises' media and sponsorship profits to lower-tier organizations is unfair. He added that NBA games being available via streaming will limit the viability of regional sports networks, like New York's MSG Network.

"The NBA has made the move to an NFL model — deemphasizing and depowering the local market," Dolan wrote. "Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year's jersey will be. Don't worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure.

"Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplishing that goal," he added.

Per Sportico, the Knicks are the league's second-most valuable franchise, worth an estimated $7.43 billion. So, Dolan would seemingly prefer to retain as much of his team's profits as possible.

While James Dolan's complaints mostly fell on deaf ears among fans, it remains to be seen if he will make any headway at Tuesday's BOG meeting.

---