NEW YORK — The only thing the Knicks’ magical playoff run was missing was the team’s owner inserting himself into a feud.
It took until Game 4 of the NBA Finals, but on Wednesday, Jim Dolan officially entered one with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani—whom he said was “not a Knicks fan”—and police commissioner Jessica Tisch.
At the heart of the finger-pointing is the team and city’s handling of watch parties at the plaza outside of Madison Square Garden, which did not take place for Games 3 and 4.
The watch parties have been a Knicks mainstay in recent years and went on throughout the playoffs until Monday’s Game 3, when U.S. President Donald Trump attended. New York’s police department and City Hall said that increased security and a canceled watch party were to protect Trump; the Knicks said that New York officials wanted to cordon off the area around the arena regardless.
On Wednesday afternoon, hours before his team’s historic 29-point comeback that gave them a commanding 3–1 series lead, Dolan went on New York sports-talk radio and laced into Mamdani and Tisch.
