This past weekend was a huge sports weekend in my household. The USA won a World Cup game on Friday, the Knicks won the NBA championship on Saturday, and the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup on Sunday. My family was in town from New York for my son’s birthday, and we had a blast celebrating each win together. We especially loved watching all of the joyful celebration videos throughout the streets of New York City. When that city comes together, it comes together.
New Yorkers love the Knicks, but they hate the team’s owner, MAGA billionaire James Dolan. Over the last three decades, Dolan has pissed off everyone in Knicks Nation by firing coaches, feuding with legendary players, creating public spectacles, and more. USA Today has a good summary of his antics here. Most recently, Dolan angered fans by cancelling a game four watch party outside of MSG. Needless to say, there is no love lost between Dolan and Knicks fans.
Speaking of lost love, Dolan made an unusual request of players just ahead of playoff season. On their podcast, The Roommates Show, Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart released a video of a pep talk Dolan gave the team in early April. In the clip, Dolan tells the players that they’re going to have to make sacrifices for the final 10 weeks of the season in order to take home the championship. One of these sacrifices was to stop having sex during the playoffs. Basically, his pitch was: “Sure, sex is great, but have you ever had a championship ring?” Here’s more from People:
James Dolan means business. Back in April, New York Knicks owner, 71, delivered a passionate speech to the team ahead of their playoff run to get them dialed in ahead of their pursuit of the Larry O’Brien Trophy, which they ultimately did against the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals.
Dolan’s speech recently came to light thanks to Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, who shared a clip on their podcast The Roommates Show on Monday, June 15, two days after their championship win. The video was from April 3, when the team had five games left in the regular season.
At one point in his lengthy speech, the Knicks owner put forth a strategic sacrifice he believed his players should make to give themselves “edge” over the other teams. The idea, however, was to be discussed with their romantic partners.
“I had this idea that maybe you should give up sex for the next 10 weeks,” he said, per clips of the speech on social media. “The Spartans, they denied themselves, right, so they can have an edge. Get the edge. Go home, talk to your wives … don’t tell them it was my idea.”
He added, “But let them know what this is going to be like, what this commitment is going to be like.”
Dolan began his speech by hyping up the team, encouraging them to envision what a championship title would mean for them personally.
“This team can win it all… I don’t know if you understand what it would mean for you to win the championship this year,” he said. “It would be life-changing for all of you… It will stick with you for the rest of your lives, and if you don’t win it, you’ll be thinking about it the rest of your lives, and so will I.”
After addressing the firing of coach Tom Thibodeau and hiring of current head coach Mike Brown, Dolan emphasized that a 10-week playoff run wasn’t that long. Its effects, however, would have lifelong benefits if the Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought.
“When people introduce you, even if you become the President of the United States, right, they’ll start off with ‘NBA champion 2026,’ I guarantee it,” he told the team. “We have a rare and unique opportunity to do it. And it’s not just you guys, the players, it’s all of us.”
Dolan also noted that the players’ wives and significant others would get rings “when we win the championship,” and that they must follow their coaches “blindly” for the playoffs.
“Your coach has the answers to what we need to do in order to win,” he continued. “You have to take his guidance. Dedicate yourselves to correcting the things that he has pointed out to you,” stressing, “You got to leave nothing on the table. You must go for it.”
I know MAGA loves their locker room talk, but suggesting players abstain from intimacy as a motivation to win a championship is wild. He said “you don’t have to give up sex” right after that, but then went on to talk about how it would give them an edge. It’s so invasive to even think about controlling players’ sex lives, even as a joke. Some articles have framed Dolan’s speech as lighthearted, but I watched the entire video and he comes across as trying to make a joke out of a serious suggestion. The whole video is cringe. That bit about promising to buy rings for their “brides and significant others” in exchange for their abstinence is so freaking weird.
You just know the Knicks have been dying to make that clip public for the last 10 weeks. A normal pep talk would simply remind everyone to take care of themselves by focusing on training, eating well, and getting a lot of rest. Dolan just shows how out-of-touch he is. He starts the pep talk off by saying, “I don’t know if you understand what it would mean for you to win the championship this year.” Like…what?! I have a tough time watching billionaires preach to others about making sacrifices. I’d love to see them make a sacrifice first.
Here’s Dolan’s full speech. It’s cued to start during the portion about the players giving up you-know-what:
Photos credit: Jennifer Graylock/INSTARimages, Nancy Rivera/INSTARimages
It’s an awful thing for an owner to suggest or even talk about, but among athletes its a common enough belief that “women weaken legs”, to quote Rocky. I think the idea is that the pent up…energy…gives them an edge? not sure. My husband used to believe this and it was further compounded by the scene in Without Limits when Pre is having sex with Amy Jo Johnson before a big race and ends up cutting his foot on a radiator (don’t ask.)
But he still wins the race though so it goes against the point, lol.
But like any sports superstition, its not for the owner to dictate. At that level, at that point, each athlete knows what works for them, from sleeping schedule to sex to food to music. Anything he said probably just bounced right off those professionals.
I also hate the idea of a white owner talking to a majority Black team about anything sexual.
I think if the players had decided to do this as a group on their own it would have been fine and maybe even a nice (if somewhat TMI) story about how focused they are and how they really work together as a team or something. But for the billionaire owner to be waltzing in and saying no sex is just pathetic. Like really, you think these guys don’t want to win? I guarantee you it is a MUCH bigger deal to them than to Dolan.
Also, because Dolan is a billionaire, we know that he hasn’t had to give up anything consequential in a long time. He’s not even giving up unnoticeable millions of dollars.
He can stop talking about sacrificing anything when his existence is the definition of someone NOT sacrificing.
I wonder if any of the players agreed to do it and if it worked 🤔
He should give up trump for the championship. Take off those knee pads James!
I’m a big fan of the Canadian show Shoresy, and there is a line Shoresy gives his hockey teammates who are banging everything that moves during a sprint for a league record:
“You have no legs in the third, because you already played a period between the sheets”. He encourages his teammates to stay focused, and that they can go back to “hammering ass” as soon as they get the record. Maybe it’s different when it’s coming from a billionaire team owner rather than a team captain.
New York has known that James Dolan is an ass for decades. My 85 year old mother despises him and his family for reasons that go back to the 1980s and their ownership of Cablevision. He is a deplorable human being (yes, I chose that word intentionally). The only good thing I think he has ever done was selling the New York Liberty.
Any chance this counts as sexual harassment? If my boss was talking about my sex life at work, I would 100% tell him to eff right off and run straight to HR. And even if it’s not a legal violation, it’s still wildly inappropriate.
Jesus Mary and Joseph, that guy needs to shut up. I bet the guys ignored him. There’s been a lot of athletes who have broken world records by doing the opposite. Jalen Brunson’s wife is a physical therapist (with a doctorate?) so you know dumbass restrictions like that aren’t disturbing the peace at their househould. And hello? all bodies aren’t created the same. These are peak athletes who know what works for their bodies! Good Lord what an idiot.
It’s disturbing to have a white team owner tell black athletes *that*.
Never heard of this guy and already hate him. That being said…… I went to a college with 1 very high-level sports team (basically pre-pro) and this was absolutely their rule from coach during championship runs- along with no drinking, diet stuff, strict training and sleep schedules, etc. it doesn’t really surprise me?
I once heard from a college roommate that her boyfriend’s coach said sex was bad for the knees (obviously for the men). Who knows?