NBA Faces Call To Kick James Dolan Out Of The League
New York Knicks fans have spent years urging James Dolan to sell the team. Max Kellerman suggested the NBA should consider taking matters into their own hands.
Pablo Torre and The Wired's Noah Shachtman recently delved into troubling allegations of Dolan surveilling fans. The Knicks owner has reportedly used facial recognition technology to track attendees at Madison Square Garden. His security team has also called the local police on social media critics, including a 14-year-old from Colorado.
Kellerman believes the league should take these reports seriously. On his "Game Over" podcast with Rich Paul, via Awful Announcing, the former ESPN personality noted that the NBA established the ability to kick out owners by banning Donald Sterling for life in 2014.
"The fact that people aren't more outraged by this," Kellerman said. "And I understand Donald Sterling lost his team because he was caught on audio saying explicitly racist things, but the point is the precedent was set, and I think it was a good one. We don't want that in the NBA."
"His ego is so fragile"
Dolan's security staff would allegedly monitor "Sell the team" and other anti-Dolan chants, using facial recognition to follow critics. A source also told Shachtman that the security team requested "covert surveillance operations" on Charles Oakley after banning the former Knicks forward from the arena.
"Whatever he was looking for, it's insane," Oakley told Torre. "But people who got money can do a lot of things ... And you hear more and more every year about what (Dolan) had done to fans, people who paid money to come into the game. He shouldn't be able to dictate the way he dictates stuff. And other owners of the NBA, it's embarrassing to hear that they let him do stuff -- and the commissioner -- over and over with no penalty. It's just not right."
Kellerman appears to agree. The sports media personality believes Silver and NBA owners should take a longer look at Dolan's actions.
"He's so thin-skinned. His ego is so fragile, he can't take any kind of criticism. In a sports arena. He can't take criticism from fans?" Kellerman continued. "That is so outrageous. I think before this gets worse, the league, the other owners should consider whether they want Dolan as a partner in this syndicate, whether they want him to own the Knicks."
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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 1:51 PM.