It's Very On Brand That The Only Owner To Vote Against The Sale Of The Charlotte Hornets Was James Dolan

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The official sale of the Charlotte Hornets certainly isn't groundbreaking news. We first heard about it in mid March that MJ was considering selling his majority stake, and then things basically became real in mid June. Over the weekend it went to a vote and seemed to pass with flying colors…….except for James Dolan.

Now I'm not going to sit here and claim that I have anywhere close to the level of hatred towards Dolan as my Knicks coworkers. In fact, unless you've been a fan of the Knicks during Dolan's run, I'm not sure it's physically possible to hate him more than say Clem or Reags or Hubbs etc. He has put them through hell for decades without a care in the world. 

As an outsider looking in though, this does seem like classic Dolan. Being an asshole just to be an asshole. This is kind of like when LeBron was going to be a unanimous MVP back in 2013 until the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn voted for Melo instead. I'm going to go ahead and assume there was a little more involved in that decision than just thinking Melo was actually the MVP in 2013. Especially with all of the BOS/MIA drama during that time. Why the hell would Dolan give a shit if the Hornets were sold to a group that already owned a minority share of the Hornets? I'm pretty sure it literally does not change his life in the slightest.

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My guess is he's getting a little antsy. You see, the Knicks are on the up and up. They're actually being run like a real NBA franchise. They're pushing the right free agent buttons in guys like Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo. They're making great in-season trades like Josh Hart. They are actually being smart with their assets and not just going star hunting just because it's a big name. These are all things we've learned over the years are the exact opposite of how James Dolan wants to run things. Maybe this is just his way of lashing out because he can't ruin his own team anymore. 

I would think as a fellow owner he would be pumped that another franchise just sold for $3B, but maybe he has beef with one of the guys in the new Hornets ownership group. Maybe that's it. Dolan sure comes off as a petty guy, so I'm going to need someone to do some investigating into this. What if there's some retaliation there by the new owners and they leak shit that finally gets Dolan out? I say let's get nuts! 

Aside from that, the new owners of the Hornets certainly have their work cut out for them. This is a team that has not made the playoffs since 2015-16 (lost in 1st round). They've won over 40 games just once, and are coming off a 27-55 season. On the flip side, there is a pretty legit collection of young talent with LaMelo, Brandon Miller, Mark Williams, Nick Richards, and PJ Washington combined with some movable vets like Rozier, Hayward etc. 

Usually, with new owners we see some bold moves (see: Suns), so who knows, maybe this new group somehow finds a way to have a better tenure than MJ. At the very least, let us get a CHA/NYK series just for the spite factor.