We recently found out that New York Knicks owner James Dolan had delivered a speech to his team prior to its improbable run to the NBA Finals and first title since 1973.
The part of the reported speech that caught everyone’s attention was Dolan jokingly telling his players to abstain from having sex for the duration of the playoff run.
“They were a little surprised, but the words hit,” a source told SNY’s Ian Begley of the players’ reaction to Dolan’s request.
While we weren’t able to watch the entire speech before, we can now.
Video of James Dolan’s speech to Knicks
On Monday, the Roommates Show, which is hosted by New York Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, dropped video of Dolan’s 14-minute speech to the team.
In it, we hear the infamous request about not having sex.
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“I had this idea that maybe you should give up sex for the next 10 weeks — you don’t have to give up sex for the next 10 weeks — BUT — like the Spartans, you know what Spartans are? They denied themselves, right? So that they can have an edge. Get the edge,” Dolan said.
“Go home, talk to your wives and tell them — don’t tell them you’re not gonna have sex, don’t tell ‘em it was my idea — but let them know what this is gonna be like, what your commitment is gonna be like, and how they’re gonna have to sacrifice too,” he added.
What else did James Dolan say?
Dolan made other suggestions to his players, like practicing harder, sleeping better and having a healthier diet.
“You need to bump your practice. You need to pay more attention to your diet. You need to sleep better. You need to be ready for every game,” Dolan said. “That’s not something you start on the first game of the playoffs. That is something you start right now, today!”
Dolan went into detail about how he had something on the line in all this, also.
The Knicks owner rightly pointed out the criticism both he and Leon Rose had taken for some of the moves they have made over the years and admitted that criticism would only get louder if the Knicks didn’t win a title.
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But if they were successful in winning the championship, this Knicks team would be remembered forever and Dolan and Rose would be considered geniuses.
“I don’t know if you understand what it would mean to win the NBA championship,” Dolan said. “It would be life-changing… It will stick with you the rest of your lives. And if you don’t win, you’ll be thinking about it the rest of your lives.”
“You will forever ever be important to New York City,” Dolan added. “No matter where you go and what you do the rest of your lives, when people introduce you, even if you become the president of the United States, they’ll start off with ‘NBA champion, 2026,’” Dolan added. “That’s what’s at stake here.”
Long considered one of the worst owners in sports, a title for the Knicks has gone a long way to at least somewhat repair Dolan’s image with fans.
