GONYK wrote:I'm having a discussion with a poster who is saying that the Commissioner can unilaterally force an owner to sell the team.
Does anyone know if this is true? I would assume not, since the Commish works for the owner. I would think, at the very least, the Board of Governors (the rest of the owners) would have to want the move.
If you want a comparison, the Commissioner is like the CEO in a corporation. Just like a CEO is usually appointed by a Board of Directors, the NBA Commissioner is appointed by the NBA Board of Governors.
Once he's appointed, the NBA Commissioner's responsibilities are far-reaching, he has to report to the Board of Governors but he's the boss. He can set the direction and the goals of the NBA. Just like a CEO needs to have the back of the Board of Directors, the Commissioner needs to make sure he has the support of the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors also elects a chairman (right now, it's Peter Holt, owner of the Spurs). The Commissioner and the Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors are the two most powerful men in the NBA.
The Commissioner and the NBA Board of Governors meet on the regular basis and if the Commissioner does a good job (and that's what Stern did overall during his tenure), he will have no problem to implement his basketball and business ideas. It's basically politics. You have 30 teams and 30 votes, the Commissioner just need to make sure he has enough votes to remain in power and continue to reign on the NBA. When a team's on sale or there's an importance change to discuss, the Commissioner and the Board of Governors usually refers to a Committee (for example a relocation committee if an owner wants to move his team) that will be in charge of the matter and then the NBA Board of Governors will reach a decision by vote.
Back to the original question, per se obviously the Commissioner can't force an owner to sell his team but he has authority to make a suggestion like that and the Board of Governors will duscuss the matter at the next meeting. The Commissioner will explain why the owner needs to be expelled from the NBA.
Obviously, it will never happen, unless an owner has a conduct detrimental to the NBA, the Commissioner will never ask the Board of Governors to vote on a sensitive matter like that. It would ruin the reputation of that owner and the NBA will become less atractive for rich investors and wealthy entrepreneurs.
That said, just like he did with Dolan in 2007 (after the Larry Brown saga and the Anucha Browne-Sanders sex scandal), the Commissioner can put an owner on a tight leash and force him to make changes in his organization. The Anucha Browne-Sanders sex scandal and the trial irritated Stern and the NBA Board of Governors, it was bad publicity for the league. That's why Stern and the Board of Governors wanted Isiah out of the league and Stern suggested Walsh's name as potential successor to clean the house and restaure the reputation of the Knicks franchise.
Dolan had to eat crow and he hated it, he wanted to keep Isiah Thomas as GM/President. That's why as soon as Walsh cleaned the mess, Dolan tried everything he could to rehire Isiah Thomas. The league vetoed it on a technicality (conflict of interest) but the NBA Board of Governors made it clear (behind the scenes) they don't want Isiah back in the NBA at this point and that's why Isiah Thomas is focusing on business ventures and is no longer pursuing a job in the NBA. He tried with the NBPA (the players union) but they didn't want him.
Dolan usually never takes no as an answer but this time, he had to accept it and that's why he said last week in an interview it would be unfair for Isiah to rehire him and he wouldn't get a fair shake. The reality is Isiah is unwanted in the NBA.
About the future of the Knicks ownership, it's doom and gloom. The Knicks are the most valuable franchise in the NBA and with a looming lucrative new tv deal in 2016, Knicks and most NBA teams have seen their value go significantly up the past two years. After the lock-out ended, owers and players signed a 10-year pact more favorable to the owners, combined with TV broadcast rights soaring, it makes the NBA more appealing for investors and advertisers. The value of the Knicks right now is approx $1.1 billion ! When Dolan took over as President of MSG in 2001, the Knicks were worth $392 million. Knicks only won one playoff series in 12 years but the value of the team tripled. Don't expect Cablevision to sell the team anytime soon. Our only hope is Dolan no longer being interested by MSG. Right now, after the spin-off, Jimmy Dolan is the chairman of both Madison Square Garden Company and Cablevision. Our only hope is he quits being the chairman of MSG in order to focus entirely on Cablevision...