Joe Camporeale-USA Today Sports
Someone needs to tell New York Knicks’ ownership to chill out.
At a press conference a few days ago, they announced that the Knicks and cross-town rival Brooklyn Nets will actually split the honor of hosting the 2015 All Star weekend festivities. The Barclays Center will be the stage for the Friday and Saturday night events and Madison Square Garden will receive the spotlight for the game on Sunday night. Nets’ executives were said to have appeared giddy as ever, while Knicks owner James Dolan reportedly looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.
Believe it or not, hosting the All Star Game is still an honor, and Dolan needs to act like it. His words did imply that sentiment, but his body language clearly did not.
So what if the Nets get to play host for the first two nights of events? The NBA wants to use this as an opportunity to showcase Brooklyn’s brand new arena and give the newly popular Nets the national attention they’ve finally earned after years of being an embarrassment.
Friday night’s All Star events hardly receive much attention, but hosting Saturday night’s will be a huge deal for the Nets, as the city and the arena usually tend to receive more buzz than the actual game on Sunday night.
Dolan and the Knicks need to get over the fact that New York City is no longer only their playing ground. There’s another act in town, and it looks like it’s going to be pretty darn good for at least a while.
Dolan better get used to that.
Mike B. Ruiz is a Brooklyn Nets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikebruiz and “Like” him on Facebook.
