NBA Update: New York Knicks sack their president of basket ball operations - Donnie Walsh
In a surprising move, Donnie Walsh has been removed from his post as President of basketball operations at the New York Knicks. The move came after earlier reports had indicated that Walsh was close to agreeing an extension to his contract. Therefore it has taken many people by surprise.
Walsh, 70, took over the Knicks at a time when they were struggling on the court and off it. New York had a bloated pay roll that was bleeding the franchise and on the other hand the Knicks consistently missed out on the playoffs.
Walsh came in and changed things around for the organization. He is widely credited for his work in cutting the wage bill by half and at the same time building a team strong enough to go into the playoffs. In his time, the Knicks acquired superstars like Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. However, reports suggested he was blamed by the owner of the franchise, James Dolan, for missing out on LeBron James in last year’s free agency.
The owner later interfered in the trade for star man Carmelo Anthony, overriding Walsh and offering a bigger deal to “Melo” as well as a host of role players to the Denver Nuggets. Things had not been rosy between the two since then as Walsh demanded control over the basketball side of things at the Knicks, but the owner was not willing to give it to him.
James Dolan announced the decision of Donnie Walsh’s departure through a press release on Friday,
“…Donnie Walsh and I have mutually agreed that he will be leaving his position as president, basketball operations of the Knicks at the end of June. Donnie will remain with the team as a consultant for the 2011-12 season. In a relatively short time with the Knicks, Donnie made a tremendous impact, which will be felt for many years to come. We thank Donnie for his leadership, hard work and many contributions to the revitalization of the team.”
It has also been reported that James Dolan wanted to rehash Walsh’s contract as a President. Walsh earned $5 million a year on his previous contract and despite his good work, the owner wanted to bring that amount down to $3 million.
Glen Grunwald, an assistant manager who was on the team of former Knicks GM Isiah Thomas, will take over as the interim GM for now. Mark Warkentien, the executive who would have been expected to succeed Donnie Walsh will not get the job of president but stay on with the franchise.
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