Knicks news: Stephen A. Smith convinced NBA title made James Dolan cheap amid Karl-Anthony Towns drama appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The New York Knicks are set to take on the Philadelphia 76ers on opening night of the NBA. Jalen Brunson and the Knicks will be receiving their rings and raising their championship banner at Madison Square Garden in front of a raucous fanbase and a team expected to challenge them for the title this season. Owner James Dolan may have put a damper on the night, claims Stephen A. Smith.
Dolan and the Knicks announced last week that they were halting all contract extension negotiations with Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart, two players the franchise had been hoping to secure long terms deals with on team-friendly deals. The problem is, the Knicks offered them deals that were too team-friendly that the players felt didn’t properly value them.
After weeks of negotiating, the Knicks shut down all talks to focus on the NBA title defense. Stephen A. Smith doesn’t like it.
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“I’m pretty pissed off because we are a week away from the season opener,” Smith said. “The NBA season jump-starts for the 2026-2027 NBA season. There will be a ring ceremony inside of Madison Square Garden. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby Mikal Bridges will be receiving championship rings. It’s going to be the first time in 53 years that the New York Knicks will be crowned champions, and we were looking forward to this season, particularly with the season opener being against LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, and Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers. Leave it to James Dolan to deflate the whole situation by cutting off contract talks with Karl-Anthony Towns and swearing up and down that they gonna focus on the season. Who the hell does he think he is?”
ONE WEEK AWAY, and James Dolan is ALREADY starting trouble! pic.twitter.com/XnwTkYJnxQ
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) October 13, 2026
Stephen A. Smith didn’t even stop there when it came to calling out James Dolan.
“I’m going to make an accusation and it’s just an accusation,” Smith continued. “This is my concern. James Dolan is a champion now and that one championship in my opinion based on what we’ve seen since from him is going to give him the license to say hell I already delivered the championship to the city of New York. I ain’t got to do another one for another quarter century. So it ain’t going to be about prioritizing winning. It ain’t gonna be about prioritizing doing the right thing. It’s going to be about saving a dollar even though the man’s a billionaire. Karl-Anthony towns is doing 277 million dollar extension. Here comes James Dolan offering them 200 million really 77 million below what an extension demand. You couldn’t do something more respectable than that. Nah, because he ain’t trying to touch the second apron.”
Is James Dolan getting too comfortable after winning one championship? pic.twitter.com/lEp6xqDpwL
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) October 13, 2026
Does Stephen A. Smith have a point? Is James Dolan just being cheap now that his franchise has won the NBA Championship?
The Knicks will tip off their 2026-27 regular season against the 76ers on Tuesday night, part of an NBA opening night triple-header.
Related: Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart won’t love Carmelo Anthony’s take on contract extensions
Related: Knicks’ Mike Brown drops an intriguing hint on Karl-Anthony Towns’ 2026-27 role
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