Source: Debby Wong- USA Today
According to the Star-Ledger, New York Knicks owner James Dolan has no fear to creepily spy on his players during their games. During the Knicks game on Friday night against the Chicago Bulls, Dolan ordered two MSG Network employees to keep tabs on Carmelo Anthony.
Dolan placed two audio technicians on opposite corners with the umbrella-shaped microphones in order to keep tabs on Anthony. His goal was for them to record anything and everything that Anthony said while on the court and on the bench. The recordings were then directly sent to Dolan.
Anthony got into a little hissy-fit last week with Kevin Garnett that caused him to receive a one-game suspension. I’m taking a wild guess that this incident is what spurred Dolan’s decision to spy on Anthony.
I understand that Dolan wants to make sure that his players are behaving appropriately but I don’t really know if it is necessary to purposely put “spies” on the court. If they are being that abrupt on the court then the referees are going to notice it at some point or another.
On the other hand, Dolan could be spying on other players to see what they are saying to Anthony. It’s kind of hard to tell what is going through Dolan’s head since the details are unclear. Regardless of his reason, it does not look good for Anthony’s reputation.
Dolan pretty much just put Anthony under the radar across the nation rather than keeping it on the down-low. It’s one thing when a player gets into a tiff with another player but putting Anthony under the spotlight means that everyone is going to be watching him 24/7. The referees are going to pay attention to him more on the court and the media will pay attention to every move he makes in public.
Although I’m not a big Anthony fan in particular, I do feel bad for him. The NBA star just hit the national spotlight due to one little confrontation that the team’s owner took a little too far.
