Apparently New York Knicks owner James Dolan is so unhappy with his team’s early performance this season that he’s taken to micromanaging everything he can actually control. And caught in Dolan’s Footloose-style crossfire are the Knicks City Dancers.
Dolan has become such a hands-on owner — figuratively speaking — that, according to a source, he doesn’t want the dancers dancing. Crazy, right? The same guy who wanted creative input on the dancers’ outfits (and he’s good at it) apparently ordered that the girls’ roles be reduced to mostly throwing T-shirts into the crowd. They performed maybe one routine on Sunday.
I take particular umbrage at Dolan’s meddling, because, as I wrote for Tablet last year, my aunt was formerly the Knicks’ director of marketing and oversaw the creation of the Knicks City Dancers back in 1991. They’ve been entertaining fans for more than 20 years since, which is more than you can say for the Knicks themselves.
What’s next, pulling the plug on the Knicks City Kids? Don’t even think about it, Dolan.
Related: Game Changer
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.
