The Knicks Didn’t Match Jeremy Lin Offer Sheet because Owner James Dolan felt ‘Betrayed,’Deceived,’ according to Report

Except, of course, that you can never strip emotion out of the Knicks’ decision-making process, because as our own Kelly Dwyer put it, “it appears as if the lone thing that James Dolan is an unmitigated expert at is stubbornness.” Since the start of the “will they match/won’t they match” drama, the talk around the Knicks was that the team’s disinclination to bring him back had less to do with money than it did with Lord Jim’s hurt feelings, which is exactly what Frank Isola of the New York Daily News wrote Wednesday:

 

The decision was both financial and emotional since Garden chairman James Dolan was upset over Lin restructuring his deal with Houston last week to include a third year salary of $14.9 million. Dolan, according to sources, felt he was deceived by the 23-year-old Lin.

“Much love and thankfulness to the Knicks and New York for your support this past year,” Lin said on Twitter. “Easily the best year of my life. #ForeverGrateful.”

Of course, team officials privately felt that Lin’s actions over the past few weeks were anything but grateful. They were upset that he hired a publicist without their consent and were livid that the second-year point guard out of Harvard went back to the Rockets for more money. […]

“Deceived.” “Upset.” “Without their consent.” “Livid.” Doesn’t sound like bottom-line-based decision-making, does it?

 

Lin going “back to the Rockets for more money,” as Isola put it, came after reports surfaced that Houston planned to sign Lin to a four-year, $28.8 million sheet — really three years and $19.5 million, since the Rockets would hold a team option for the fourth year — with the so-called “poison pill” coming in the third year, when the 23-year-old point guard would be due a $9.3 million payout.

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