Knicks owner Dolan makes pitch for LeBron

Owner James Dolan decided yesterday to join the Knicks’ recruiting team as the club delivers its first presentation to free agent LeBron James. Dolan .the King of Cablevision apparently wants to look LeBron James in the eye to assure him of the financial commitment he has always made to the franchise, and that he has never spared any expense in trying to restore the Knicks back to greatness.

Dolan feels he is most adept at explaining to James the Garden’s amazing transformation across the next three years, in which the Knicks owner is spending anywhere between $775 to $850 million to beautify “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” Dolan, coach Mike D’Antoni, Knicks president Donnie Walsh and assistant to the president Allan Houston will meet with James and his advisors in the Akron area. While Dolan has taken the brunt of the blame for the Knicks failing to win a playoff game in 10 years, he actually serves as an advantage in this LeBron Race. Dolan is an ower who has proven he is willing to pay up and pay up big.

Dolan not as flamboyant or tall as 6-foot-8 Russian billionaire Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov who is also courting LeBron It seems Prokhorov will also head to the Akron area Thursday to lead the Nets’ brigade that includes minority owner/James buddy Jay-Z, whose presence likely scored the Nets the first meeting. The Russian billionaire enters this free-agent sweepstakes having already announced to the media the firing of GM/coach Kiki Vandeweghe before telling Vandeweghe himself, after that gaff ,he lost well respected president Rod Thorn on the cusp of free agency. League sources contend Thorn got low-balled on his new pay package and the Vandeweghe mishap also is believed to have given Thorn a bad taste on how the Russian billionaire conducts business. Billionaire or not Prokhorov has an unproven track record on a willingness to spend on basketball operations.

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