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Isola: Jax and Dolan, not Melo, should apologize for Knicks

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James Dolan (l.) and Phil Jackson have little to say about the sorry state of the Knicks.MARK LENNIHAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

James Dolan (l.) and Phil Jackson have little to say about the sorry state of the Knicks.

Now that Carmelo Anthony has offered a sincere apology, it would be nice if some other highly paid Madison Square Garden employees would tell the most abused fan base in New York “I’m sorry” for the sorry Knicks.

James Dolan? Phil Jackson? Nothing? How about Irving Azoff, the famous Eagles manager who brokered the shotgun marriage of a desperate blues singer and a fading legend who was looking to make one last financial score?

It’s rare that anyone ever apologizes at the World’s Most Famous Arena. But on Wednesday, the Knicks tweeted out an apology from Anthony, who had a heated exchange with an angry customer in the final minutes of Tuesday’s loss to Portland.

“We are all frustrated by the team’s recent results — everyone, including me, my teammates, coaches and the fans,” Anthony said on the team’s Twitter page. “Last night, a fan and I let those frustrations get the best of us. I should not have responded the way I did.”

Funny, but I don’t remember Knicks Twitter issuing an apology from Dolan last year after the thin-skinned Garden chairman fired off an email to Irving Bierman, a 73-year-old, angry customer. Notice a trend here? In Dolan’s response to Bierman he insinuated that Bierman was an alcoholic. Lovely.

Where would Carmelo ever get the idea that it is acceptable to respond to a fan with such a harsh tone?

But who are we kidding here. This isn’t about Anthony apologizing to a fan. It is about changing the narrative of the story because Anthony threw his boss into it.

“I turned around and all I did was point to Dolan,” Anthony said late Tuesday. “I told him, ‘Look, the owner’s right there, ask for your money back.’ At that point, he told me he wasn’t coming to another game. You just don’t want to hear that. I pointed to the owner and told him, ‘Look, you deal with that with him and see if you can get your money back.’ “

Carmelo learned a valuable lesson this week: If you want to publicly bury a teammate, a coach, the media or Phil, have at it. You make Dolan the topic of conversation and you’ve just violated Rule No. 1 of the Garden’s sacred media policy. Half the media in New York obeys the “never criticize Dolan or else” rule for fear of reprisal from MSG in the form of losing access and comp tickets.

Carmelo Anthony apologizes for getting into verbal altercation with fan during Tuesday’s loss, but members of Knick brass, as usual, have hard time saying ‘I’m sorry.’Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

Carmelo Anthony apologizes for getting into verbal altercation with fan during Tuesday’s loss, but members of Knick brass, as usual, have hard time saying ‘I’m sorry.’

Of course, maybe Carmelo knew exactly what he was doing after I asked him what set him off. No one heard the exchange yet Melo was more than willing to tell the media that he was frustrated and that his response to a heckler was essentially “ask the owner for a refund.”

Dolan watched the scene unfold in front of him and once the game ended he bolted for Jackson’s suite in the bowels of MSG. Dolan has every right to be upset. He’s paying Jackson at least $12 million annually and the Knicks’ record since the start of the 2014-15 season is 42-102.

Jackson’s first big hire, Derek Fisher, was an unmitigated disaster. His second head coach, Kurt Rambis, isn’t winning either and it was poor form to ridicule Jimmer Fredette after the poor kid was signed to a 10-day contract only to ride the bench. Dolan, whose baby is the Westchester Knicks, probably pushed Jackson to sign Fredette to give the Knicks a little box office push.

Rambis is in charge of playing time and didn’t feel that Fredette deserved minutes over former Laker Sasha Vujacic. That’s fine. But there was no need to mock Jimmer. It came across as mean-spirited as Dolan’s email to Bierman. It was certainly a lot worse than what Melo said to a heckler in the heat of battle.

In the long run this is a good thing because now it is out in the open that Anthony is unhappy with the state of the team. Anthony is attached to Dolan at the hip and we could be on the verge of a little power play between star player and Mr. 11 Rings, who has the backing of Azoff.

The odds that both Anthony and Jackson will be working for Dolan by next October are probably at 30%. If the losing continues bet the house that one of them will leave. Anthony is the easiest to exile if he decides to waive his no-trade clause.

Dolan, though, may have other ideas. There are already rumblings that Dolan won’t sign off on Brian Shaw or Rambis as a coaching hire. Luke Walton is another story but many believe Walton will stay with the Warriors. That will cause problems between the boss and the president. It could get messy.

And if and when it does, you can bet your bottom dollar than neither will ever say “I’m sorry.”

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