The Knicks spread word that owner James Dolan and Spike Lee shook hands, shared a laugh and resolved their issue at halftime of New York’s win over the Rockets last night. Lee denied shaking Dolan’s hand. The Knicks released a statement that included a photo of Dolan and Lee shaking hands. Lee called the Knicks liars.
Finally, Lee saw the photo.
Sopan Deb of The New York Times:
What a conspiracy theory!
To me, the somewhat-blurry picture looks like a screenshot of a video. A lot of video gets captured at arenas during NBA games – from media, from security cameras. My best guess: After this controversy blew up today, the Knicks found video that showed the handshake and shared a still.
Dolan might have approached Lee with a plan of getting Lee to back down. I could also see Dolan – who’s often surrounded by sycophants – believing the handshake meant he had accomplished goal. Then, he might have had the Knicks put out that he and Lee had resolved everything.
But a quick handshake during a terse exchange means little. Lee was clearly still upset about being being told not to use his desired entrance to Madison Square Garden. Heck, he’s still upset now.
Lee’s discontent is the underlying issue that must be addressed, as fun as it is to dive into conspiracy theories like this.
