With most major cities in the United States protesting police brutality and racial injustice after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, Knicks owner James Dolan chose last week to not publicly address the situation.
Dolan later sent a second email to MSG employees, seeking to clarify his silence.
The email, obtained by SNY, began as follows:
Yesterday, I made a sincere attempt to provide my perspective on a very difficult issue, one that has no easy answers. I know how important this topic is to so many, and I do not want there to be any confusion about where I as an individual, or we as a company stand. So let me be clear: we vehemently condemn and reject racism against anyone, period. It is against every value that we hold dear.
Former NBA player Caron Butler, speaking with Alex Kennedy, recently criticized Dolan for his position.
"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," Butler said. "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.
"And 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. And I think that, at the end of the day, your legacy is extremely important and you cannot -- I never seen a U-haul truck attached to a hearse or anything like that. So people remember you from your good deeds and what you did for mankind.
Butler added that Dolan not speaking up could have an impact on Knicks players and other NBA players.
"And to say nothing in one of the biggest moments, I think, in our lifetime, that we've been able to experience and all rally around and have a hand in and be a part of, and to be absent in that moment? That's just, that tells you a lot," Butler explained. "And I know that a lot of players are like, 'how can I go run through a brick wall for this organization and understand and know that my rights probably don't really matter to this individual?'
"It's eye-opening for a lot of people. It's eye-opening for a lot of people that are on social media that have friends from different walks of life that didn't stand in solidarity and say anything. It's going to be different going forward, and if you did not stand on the side of (what's) right and on justice, you will be looked at differently. And that just lets the world know that you have no substance to you."