Knicks fans shouldn't sit still for this, and neither should the NBA.
James Dolan is set to host a fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman at Madison Square Garden on October 15. The gala starts at 6:30 p.m., an hour before the Knicks' preseason game against the Toronto Raptors tips off. The invitation spells out the cost of entry: $10,000 to get in the door, $25,000 for the "Friend" tier, $50,000 to be called a "Patriot." The Nassau County Republican Committee and Blakeman for New York are footing the bill. Dolan is co-hosting with Witkoff Group's Scott Alper and EnTrust Global chairman Gregg Hymowitz.
An owner can spend his money and use his building however he wants. Dolan is draping the Knicks over a partisan campaign like a banner. Blakeman's own statement gives the game away: "James Dolan knows how to build businesses, create jobs, and win championships. Together, we're ready to take on Kathy Hochul and deliver another win for all New Yorkers." The championships belong to the players and the fans who filled that arena for decades. Blakeman is trying to borrow them, and Dolan is lending them out.
Dolan endorsed Hochul when she ran in 2022 and has since flipped hard the other way. He, his company, and family members have put $1.4 million into committees backing Blakeman in 2026. A super PAC he backs, Strong and Safe New York PAC, ran a $250,000 billboard campaign hammering Hochul across Westchester and Rockland counties. He has made himself Blakeman's loudest, richest sponsor, and now he's turning a basketball night at the most famous arena in the sport into an access point for one candidate in one race.
This is the same Garden operation that, this past summer, paused ticket sales and rolled back baseline pricing during its feud with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The Garden has already been used as a political cudgel once this year. The fundraiser is the sequel, except now the target is a sitting governor Dolan wants gone, and the lever is a team the city actually cares about.
Blakeman is a longshot in a deep-blue state. A fringe challenger is getting bought a night of credibility he couldn't generate on his own, stamped with Knicks colors and a championship afterglow, in front of a crowd that showed up for a jump ball. Dolan is selling the one thing the Knicks have that money can't buy back: the goodwill of the people who love them.
So far, the NBA and Adam Silver have said nothing. That silence is a choice. Years ago, during an unrelated mess at the Garden, Silver said, "I think there is enormous attention, in this market in particular, focused on ownership and interactions with ownership. It's not something we typically get involved in." Fine as a general instinct. Useless here. A league that happily markets its players' civic engagement can't pretend it has no view when one of its owners turns a game night into a partisan auction.
Dolan can spend his fortune on Bruce Blakeman however he likes. He doesn't get to spend the Knicks on him too, and a commissioner who stays quiet while he does it is letting the whole league get rented out one "Patriot" ticket at a time.
