Stephen A. Smith, speaking off the air, says Knicks owner James Dolan wanted to trade Iman Shumpert
By Brett PollakoffJul 17, 2013, 12:29 PM EDT
During a taping of an ESPN interview with Dwight Howard conducted by Stephen A. Smith, apparently someone was able to watch via the satellite feed, and then record it as it happened.
What that led to was some off-camera comments that were obviously not meant for public consumption being released into the wild, and it paints James Dolan, the owner of the New York Knicks, in a less-than-flattering light where his basketball decision-making is concerned.
"And by the way, Dolan was ready to trade [Iman Shumpert] because he didn't want to work out in the summer league," Smith tells Howard in the video clip above. "Dolan's talking about trading him. I said, 'trade who? You better hold on to that boy. You better not lose Iman Shumpert.' That boy can play."
Shumpert participated in the Knicks first Summer League game, before heading off to China on a pre-planned promotional tour with adidas.
It's worth keeping in mind that reporters who are plugged in around the league hear a lot of things, most of which aren't close to actually happening. The items that are truly legit get turned into stories on the mainstream national websites fairly quickly, so the fact that this tidbit wasn't one of these would lead us to believe it was a fleeting thought by the Knicks owner, rather than a more serious intention.
[via Deadspin]