As Bill Murray Said... It Just Doesn't Matter
EDITOR'S NOTE
Welcome to the Exchange newsletter.
This is Sandy Cannold, Executive Producer at CNBC, in for Kelly Evans today.
Shares of Madison Square Garden (MSG) spiked at the end of last week, but it wasn't because investors were cheering the amazing success at the world's most famous arena. Instead for some reason, Wall Street was happy that yet another New York Knicks head coach had been fired. The NBA's worst-performing team over the last 20 seasons (including this one) is now on its 13th coach in that time. Since 2000 the franchise has also had seven general managers and/or presidents. The turnover has been mind-boggling in management and of course, on the court.
To understand the misery of this franchise check out these staggering stats. Since 2000 the Knicks have had SIXTEEN losing seasons. If they finish below .500 this year (a likely bet) it will be their SEVENTH straight year with a losing record. During this historically bad stretch they have made the playoffs just FIVE times, which is pretty amazing since over half of the teams in the NBA (16 out of 30) make the postseason. Now compare their performance to that of the NBA's most consistent franchise, the San Antonio Spurs. Over that same stretch the Spurs have NEVER missed the playoffs, they have won FOUR NBA titles and have only had ONE coach -- Gregg Popovich. The Spurs are the other side of the NBA's bell curve from the Knicks and not the norm in the NBA. Owners do tend to change coaches like they change ties -- the Detroit Pistons are on their 11th coach, same for the Cleveland Cavaliers and even the mighty LA Lakers are on their 9th coach since 2000. But all of those franchises have won at least ONE championship since the start of the 21st century. The Knicks have only won ONE playoff series - OUCH!
So clearly the New York Knicks are a special kind of terrible, but here's the crazy thing and you'll be stunned to read what I am about to write.
Despite 20 years of misery on the court & probably at this point billions flushed down the drain, the New York Knicks are worth 10-times more today than what they were in 2003. Just soak that in for a minute. The NBA team with the worst winning percentage since the start of the 21st century is, according to Forbes, the most valuable team in the entire league. As of February 2019 it is worth roughly $4 billion dollars. In 2003, Forbes said the Knicks were worth just $400 million.
James Dolan has owned the team during this entire stretch of brutality. Daily he is reminded of the team's failure and daily there are calls for him to sell the team. Last week, the commisioner of the NBA, Adam Silver was asked if he would step in and takeover the team to help stop the bleeding. Silver said he had no such plans and the reason is that the fans keep coming back. Madison Square Garden is sold out almost every night, ratings for the team's cable network have not tanked and merchandise sales for the Knicks still rank in the top 10.
People like me are the problem. I have been a Knicks fan my entire life. I started with Ray Williams & Micheal Ray Richardson in the '70s; Bernard King got me through the '80s; Ewing, Starks, Oakley, L.J. & Latrell were the '90s and since then it has been 20 years of dashed dreams - from Starbury to Melo to Linsanity to the Unicorn. Like so many fans of losing teams, we hope and pray each new coach, each new free agent, each new year will bring success to our team. For me, and for my sons, who are now on this train with me, it's once again, wait 'til next year.
Let me know if you share in my misery and props to the readers who can name all the coaches who have worked for James Dolan.
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