Caron Butler On Knicks Owner Jim Dolan's Decision Not To Comment On Current Unrest In Country: 'He Made A Bad Decision Not Speaking Up On It'
(CBSNewYork)- Last week, it was reported that New York Knicks owner Jim Dolan had sent an email to employees of the organization and Madison Square Garden explaining why the team hadn't and wouldn't be making a statement in the wake of George Floyd's death.
That decisions has received criticism within the sports media landscape from several former players turned analysts. 14-year veteran Caron Butler is the most recent ex-player to speak out. He says that he believes the decision not to make a statement was a bad one on the owner's part.
"It's like every opportunity or chance that Mr. Dolan gets a chance to do something right, it's almost like he's pivoting in the space to go out of his way to do the opposite," said Butler in an interview with Hoops Hype's Alex Kennedy. "And that probably works in the business space, where you disturb the market, but this is not a business thing. This is a humane thing. And I think that, he made a bad decision not speaking up on it."
The Knicks are now the only team in the league to have not made some kind of statement in the wake of Floyd's death and the ongoing protests against racism and police brutality after the San Antonio Spurs posted several videos to Twitter over the weekend. The team's Twitter account has not posted anything since May 30th. Butler went on to say that, while he doesn't know what Mr. Dolan may be doing privately on this front, the lack of a public stance in this moment is telling.
"I don't know what he do privately or anything like that. But, you should take a stance on justice and what's right and wrong," said Butler. "I think that, at the end of the day, your legacy is extremely important. I have never seen a U-Haul truck attached to a hearse and whatnot so people remember you for your good deeds and what you did for mankind. To say nothing, in one of the biggest moments in our lifetime that we've been able to experience and all rally around and have a hand in and be part of, to be absent in that moment? That's just....that tells you a lot."