When following Donald Trump's trouncing of Hillary Clinton to claim the White House, James Dolan offered to have his Rockettes perform at January's Presidential Inauguration, the New York Knicks owner was challenged by some of those very dancers who went public to declare that they would not be joining the troupe. "It just sounds like you're asking us to be tolerant of intolerance," one Rockette was reported as saying. "Yeah, in a way, I guess we are doing that," Dolan is said to have responded.
In hindsight of the President's polarizing first month in office and Dolan's recent scandal involving Charles Oakley, such a reply [which seems to concede to the notion that Dolan understood the President-elect to have represented intolerance] may further raise eyebrows now, considering the news broke on Thursday, February 23. James Dolan is a Donald Trump supporter.
It may have been accessible for anyone to know, seeing how it's a matter of public record, but the New York Daily News made it their intention to dig up and publicize just how dear Dolan hold's Trump to his heart. To put Dolan's fundraising contribution into perspective, he has given to Republican presidential candidates in the past, but his donations to "Romney Victory", "McCain Victory", and even Democrat "Kerry Victory" in 2004, combined, do not add up to the $300,000 he gave the current President.
It is to be expected that a billionaire might side with Republican candidates, who typically promise to cut taxes and deregulate to the benefit of businesses, but sports is also in the business of social identity. When boxers fight, their native countries are more often than not a driving force behind the promotion, when a baseball team scouts a star from Japan the MLB organization rolls out the red carpet for the country's media people to come over and make themselves at home, and over the years the NBA has made a concerted effort to identify with the disaffected communities from which its best athletes predominantly hail. Thus, Dolan's political maneuvers combined with observation of his handling of Oakley at the garden would be peculiar to some.
It remains to be seen how other owners, personal from other teams, and members of the NBA's broad administration engage Dolan from here on out. Just last week, headlines were comparing the embattled owner to fallen former Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Dolan's own New York Knicks had a couple of players who have been outspoken against the administration, including Joakim Noah and Carmelo Anthony. Heading into free agency, will the idea of signing with New York be dissuaded by agents reminding their stars of the organization's dwindling appeal?
Source: nydailynews.com
