Since James Dolan reportedly wouldn’t let Donnie Walsh bring Chris Mullin into the Knicks front office prior to Walsh leaving his post as team president, I think a game of NBA Jam style two-on-two is in order.
Dolan can dust off his old pair of Converse All Stars and team up with his boy Isiah, and those two guys can square off in the ultimate basketball grudge match against Mully and Walsh – winner taking the proverbial “all” of course. I’ve got this vision in my head of Donnie Walsh burying a three and then doing the Darius Miles head tap with both fists in celebration as he cruises down the court taunting Isiah and Dolan that I can’t shake out of my head this morning for some reason, so I hope this game happens.
Whether it does or not, though, there’s no denying the very real bond between Walsh and Mullin. Both guys like the heck out of each other, but even more than that both guys really seem to want to work together in an NBA front office near you someday. Chris Mullin weighed in on Walsh’s future this week to say that he thinks Donnie has another run in him, but first for some context the New York Post report from last week that I was referring to in the open is also below:
“According to a league source close to Donnie Walsh, his biggest regret as Knicks president was not being able to hire Mullin as the team general manager and then groom him as his successor. In fact, the source said if owner James Dolan had granted Walsh permission to hire Mullin last summer as GM, Walsh likely would still be the president — and not an Indiana-based club consultant.”
Then on Tuesday Mullin was quoted as saying that he thinks Donnie Walsh could still run an NBA team – assuming he wants too. This from Yahoo! Sports:
“Mullin, now a Hall of Famer, says he has no doubt Walsh will return to one NBA franchise or another as long as he’s up for it, according to ESPN New York. “He’s as good as anyone,” Mullin said of Walsh on the YES Network, the site reports. “I think it’s just a matter of if he wants to do it. And what I know of Donnie, he’s a worker.”
After dealing as professionally as Walsh has with the Knicks situation, coupled with the career he’s put together over the course of his lifetime, it certainly stands to reason that somebody could bring Donnie in to run their NBA front office at some point. Jay-Z always says 70’s the new 60, so why not give him a shot if he feels like he’s got another run in him? It seems he’d bring Mullin with him if he does take that shot, and I’m sure those two would have each and every Knicks game circled, highlighted, and italicized on that schedule of theirs too.
Photo: New York Daily News
