We’re accustomed to piling on James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks, and deservedly so. But his conduct in crisis lately deserves to be noted.
Sometimes, it’s in crisis when our true character is revealed. That’s true of the general population, and it’s true of the wealthy as well. We’ve seen the revelation of character for plenty of folks, both wealthy and not lately, as the COVID-19 pandemic touches just about every part of society. One person who may have revealed a bit more of his character than we once knew is James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks.
In a time where the billionaires who comprise the Philadelphia 76ers‘ ownership group were about to insist upon a large swath of their employees taking a pay cut, until they were shamed on Twitter for about six-and-a-half minutes and changed course, the Knicks have steadfastly remained committed to paying their employees through at least the end of May.
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Dolan himself tested positive for COVID-19, and since recovering has donated blood and has volunteered to participate in medical trials, as well as volunteering to donate plasma antibodies.
The argument could be made that a man of significant means should be doing more, and perhaps that argument is correct. However, we live in a world where Josh Harris exists, where Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta furloughed 40,000 employees and told the world he was doing them a favor by sending them to the unemployment line before everybody else. By the way, in case you were worried about Fertitta, he says he’s doing “pretty damn well“.
We’ll take a billionaire who is making sure his employees are done right by and one who is doing his part with his time and own body in an effort to battle COVID-19. Rest assured, once this crisis is over we’ll go back to mocking Dolan relentlessly for his role at the top of one of the worst run organizations in professional sports.
That day will duly come, but right now, it seems he’s a human being doing things a human being should do in times of challenge. Perhaps the bar is low these days, but James Dolan deserves some credit for standing apart from the dregs of NBA owners and being near the top of the heap regarding his conduct during this global pandemic.