MSG: No plans to sell Knicks, rumor '100 percent false'

[February 19, 2019]  The New York Knicks' parent company said Monday that a report of chairman James Dolan taking offers to sell the team is "100 percent false."

"There has been nothing. No discussions. No plans to have discussions -- nothing," the Madison Square Garden Company said in a statement.

The topic, which also came up late last year, arose again on Sunday in a podcast from The Ringer. Host Bill Simmons said, "Multiple people told me this, who know things: James Dolan is courting offers for the Knicks. It's happening. It's on. It's go time. He's courting offers for the Knicks."

Simmons went on to say that Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Company, "really cares about the buildings and the in-game/in-concert experience. And he wants to put even more money into that."

In an interview with ESPN in December, Dolan acknowledged there were "feelers" of interest in buying the team, with numbers reaching $5 billion, though "no one has come through with a bona fide offer," he added.

Dolan said then that he doesn't want to sell the team, which he has controlled since 1999, but that, "You have a responsibility as the guy who runs the place to deliver on that for them -- that's being open and transparent. And so in that position, I could never say that I wouldn't consider selling the Knicks.

"... As the head of the public company, you can't say you can't sell, because then you're telling your shareholders that your own personal feelings about your assets are more important than their money. And they won't invest with you if you do that."

The Knicks, whose 11 wins this season are tied for the fewest in the NBA and who broke an 18-game losing streak with a victory just before the All-Star break, are believed to be planning major moves in the offseason. They recently traded star forward Kristaps Porzingis and cleared additional cap space through other trades, with the expected goal of pursuing multiple max-level free agents.

--Field Level Media

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