Only Jim Dolan could rain on a Knicks championship parade

On Thursday, as their beloved New York Knicks celebrated winning the NBA Finals rolling up the Canyon of Heroes, everyone seemed ready to forgive owner Jim Dolan.

It was great energy on a great day. Charles Oakley showed up and marched alongside his fellow Knicks alumni despite his ongoing feud with Dolan. Finals MVP and team captain Jalen Brunson carried his daughter Jordyn while Josh Hart filmed selfies with fans along the barricade. The team finally reached City Hall, where longtime broadcaster Mike Breen served as master of ceremonies, at which point Mayor Zohran Mamdani took the podium.

Dressed in a suit with a No. 3 Knicks jersey over his shirt and tie, the Mayor spoke for roughly eight minutes in what was, in essence, a shoutout to the Knicks’ and New Yorkers’ shared toughness and resilience. Of course, this included what was basically bullet points of the Knicks’ greatest hits: Bernard King scoring 60. Oakley “pulling down every rebound within reach” along with Spike Lee’s beef with Reggie Miller. Stephon Marbury “trading threes with Kobe and then sold sneakers every kid could afford.”

The list went on. Nate Robinson’s epic dunks despite being 5’9″. Linsanity.

“We waited without knowing if this day would ever come, and we waited because we knew down in our sick, suffering hearts that it would,” the Mayor said. “New York City, this team has done it. The New York Knicks are NBA champions!”

Mayor Mamdani even shouted out Knicks from the so-called “Dark Ages” of the early 21st century, namely Renaldo Balkman and Mardy Collins. Even Jared Jeffries got his flowers!

Dolan took his turn after Public Advocate Jumanne Williams gave a short hype speech of his own, the gist of which was the Knicks uniting New York City regardless of politics. Donning a Knicks cap, sunglasses, and a blazer still deciding if it’s peach or salmon, he was playfully booed while his players overwhelmingly applauded him.

But despite speaking for maybe a minute, Jim Dolan couldn’t help himself. From a dumb dad joke about younger fans not having to wait the full 53 years, he then took a shot at the Mayor in saying, “I don’t need your vote. I don’t need to quote to you, right, about what happened here. Because if you’re real Knick fans, you know it already. So thank you for supporting our team. We’re gonna keep working to bring you even better basketball, although it’s hard to imagine we’ll get much better than this. But we will. Right, fellas? And thank you again for your support.”

What a joke.

Before we continue, this isn’t going to be a “How dare Jim Dolan do that” piece or a long tirade about how he must apologize to Hizzoner. We get it. Dolan is a billionaire, conservative, and very likely not a fan of Mamdani’s democratic socialist agenda. Nor local loudmouth Sid Rosenberg, who had his own pick-me moment and retweeted Dolan’s remarks.

It didn’t ruin the day. Far from it. Not even 24 hours later, and Mamdani’s speech is getting more attention than Dolan’s. Except the guy wore his outward contempt for the mayor on his sleeve. Even as he received his key to the city, Dolan didn’t even stop to take the obligatory photo. Players and coaches, on the other hand, all understood the assignment. Even Jeremy Sochan, who lost his shirt somewhere between Battery Park and City Hall.

Again. What. A. Joke.

Look, none of this is to say that Jim Dolan remains a bad owner despite finally earning a championship ring. Hindsight being 20/20, all he’s really guilty of post-Isiah Thomas Era is not recognizing Steve Mills’ incompetence sooner. This time, he let Leon Rose cook, took a step back (Whether it was because of the Sphere is irrelevant), and here we are. To be honest, we should credit him for firing Tom Thibodeau last summer and trusting the Mike Brown hire.

But on a day that was supposed to be about so much more than basketball? New York City. New York fans. A basketball mecca finally reaching the top of the mountain after faltering for over five decades.

It was a great day. Fans cheered. Players were celebrated along with the city. New York felt alive in a way that some haven’t experienced in their lifetimes, this writer included.

Even then, Jim Dolan somehow found a sliver of time to make it all about him.

One more time for the readers in the back: What a joke.