Tension between Mayor Mamdani and Knicks’ owner James Dolan was palpable as they shared the stage during Thursday’s upbeat City Hall ceremony honoring the NBA champions.
The mayor in his speech delved into the Knicks history books, listing team greats such as Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed and Allan Houston. Mamdani also name-dropped Charles Oakley, with whom Dolan has had a very public feud.
“We waited without ever knowing if this day would come, and we waited because we knew deep down in our sick, suffering hearts that it would be New York City. This team has done it. The New York Knicks are NBA champions,” Mamdani said at the ceremony.
He also nodded to the difficulties faced by the current roster, including Karl Anthony-Towns mourning the loss of his mother, Josh Hart taping his broken finger and Jalen Brunson taking a $113 million pay cut to help the Knicks remain competitive.
“The Knicks did not just win for New York City, they won like New York City,” the mayor said.
But Dolan wasn’t impressed by Mamdani’s history lesson. In his speech that followed, he appeared to dismiss Mamdani’s efforts to establish his fandom bonafides.
“I don’t need your vote, I don’t need to quote to you right what happened here,” Dolan said. “Because if you’re real Knicks fans, you know it already.”
Asked after the ceremony if he’d made peace with Mamdani, Dolan grimaced and waved the question off.
Asked the same question of Dolan, Mamdani did not respond.
Dolan waged a public fight against Mamdani last week, when during a WFAN appearance he framed the mayor and his police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, as incompetent bureaucrats who “never managed anything like this before.” Dolan called off a watch party outside of Madison Square Garden, blaming the tight security implemented by the mayor’s administration.
The Knicks owner has also maintained a friendship with President Trump, a sometimes nemesis of Mamdani’s. Dolan personally invited him to attend Game 3 of the Finals at the Garden. He said Wednesday he’d accepted Trump’s invitation to the White House following their historic NBA Championship.
“We just did receive an invitation from the White House, which we accepted. We still have to figure out the details, et cetera,” Dolan said on WFAN. “Look, I invited the president to come down for the game, right? He is a friend. I’ve known him for 30 years, and I’m very proud to bring the team to the White House.”
Player OG Anunoby remained straight-faced, turning away when asked by the Daily News about the visit with Trump.
“I don’t know about that, we’ll just see how it goes and whatever happens, happens,” Trey Jemison III said in response to a question about whether he’d consider boycotting the visit.
