Last season's New York Knicks sensation is this season's New York Knicks departure: Jeremy Lin is gone, off to the Houston Rockets. Jeremy Lin says he would have preferred New York, why New York Knicks owner and president James Dolan says he's feeling hurt and betrayed by the move. Whose side should Knicks fans take? 

The dispute came down to a matter of money: The Knicks didn't want to pay Jeremy Lin the offer handed to him by the Houston Rockets; they felt that he was untested, and not worth his asking price. But is this true? After all, Jeremy Lin brought a whole bunch of fans to basketball and the Knicks who weren't there before, which is besides the fact that his emergence as a global sensation basically solved one of the most bitter cable carrier fee disputes in recent history. Shareholders in Madison Square Garden Entertainment stock certainly don't buy the Knicks' line; the stock has taken a hit since Lin's departure became imminent (and continues to go down through today).

Now, we're hearing from Jeremy Lin and James Dolan, as each air out their own side of the story.

[READ MORE: The Jeremy Lin Effect on $MSG Stock: Jimmy, We're Going Down]

Sports Illustrated's Pablo Torre got an exclusive interview with Lin. Highlights:

Why Lin Left:

"...My main goal in free agency was to go to a team that had plans for me and wanted me. I wanted to have fun playing basketball. ... Now I'm definitely relieved."

The Moment Lin Knew He Might Leave:

"[Former Knicks point guard Raymond] Felton's signing was the first time when I thought, 'Oh, wow, I might not be a Knick,'" Lin said.

Why Houston?

"The Rockets kept saying how sorry they were that that they'd cut him, and how much of a mistake it was," [Jeremy Lin's agent Jim Tanner] said. "They almost said it too many times. They kept acknowledging it."

Why It's Not About The Money:

The notion that Lin has always cared about money above all else, in particular, eats away at him, especially as he sleeps in his childhood home. "If I really wanted to, I could have triple-digit endorsements," Lin pointed out, but he does not. Instead, and in large part because Lin wanted to concentrate on basketball, he declined to cash in on the Linsanity gold-rush -- namely, the mountain of business opportunities in Asia -- and picked only three companies: Volvo, Steiner Sports and Nike.

What James Dolan Told Lin:

"I have plans for you in the future," Lin recalled the owner saying. "This is a long-term investment. Don't rush back."

Lin on Playing in New York City:

"I love the New York fans to death," Lin said. "That's the biggest reason why I wanted to return to New York. The way they embraced me, the way they supported us this past season, was better than anything I've ever seen or experienced. I'll go to my grave saying that. What New York did for me was unbelievable. I wanted to play in front of those fans for the rest of my career."

Meanwhile, Knicks owner James L. Dolan unofficially aired out his side of things via sourcing to the New York Daily News:

The decision was both financial and emotional since Garden chairman James Dolan was upset over Lin restructuring his deal with Houston last week to include a third year salary of $14.9 million. Dolan, according to sources, felt he was deceived by the 23-year-old Lin.

That's it. No interviews, no media statements, nothing else from James Dolan other than the fact that he felt "deceived." James Dolan's relationship with Knicks fans is already tense: There was that nasty streak of letting Isaiah Thomas run the team that didn't work out, which is to say nothing of contracts like those handed to Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, and so on. He's had an embattled relationship with the sports press, at one point all but completely denying them access to the team. And ticket prices—which have only steadily risen over the years despite the team's lack of serious playoff appearances over the last decade—recently took another hike as box seating was placed lower in The Garden, effectively alienating the socioeconomic majority of fans who even could see the team play even further.

Even as the press files away columns on the matter—like the usually even-handed New York Times ("Dolan Breaks Faith With Knicks Fans Again")—the true test of public opinion will be how Knicks fans react to Lin when he comes back to the Garden to play against the team in Houston next year. He could be booed, or—as was the case with Hideki Matsui, who the Yankees declined to resign after the championship season for which he was awarded 2009 World Series MVP—be embraced.

Either way: Besides the fact that the public financial interest (and thus, faith in him) isn't exactly surging these days, it's pretty clear James Dolan's name will not be worn by fans any time soon.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Let's flash back quickly to February, when Jeremy Lin started making notable appearances on the court for the Knicks:

For a few days, the stock experienced slow, steady gains. And then, as Lin started performing, the rest of the world —(and the markets) took notice:

$MSG stock began to experience spikes and swells, and continued to rally. Despite Lin's injury in March that took him off the court for the rest of the season, there was little speculation that he'd be traded. In May, after the Knicks were ousted from the playoffs, talk of Lin's contract began with a dispute over the nature of his free agency, and whether or not the Knicks could exceed the salary cap in attempting to resign him. In recent weeks, it was made clear that Lin would be talking to other teams. And in recent days, it was made clear that Lin was taking some of these talks seriously.

But at the end of June, the question of how much the Knicks could pay Lin was resolved in their favor. For a moment, things looked up.

And then...

"Lin Withdraws From U.S. Select Team, Citing Free-Agent Status" - New York Times, July 3, 2012

"Knicks Get Kidd and Make Plans to Keep Lin" - New York Times, July 5, 2012

Lin stayed out of the Olympics to deal with his contract negotiation (and not run the risk of injuring himself further, so he could still court offers). Lin also signed a term sheet with Houston that the Knicks would have to begrudgingly match.

Which is when this happened:

Retuers reports:

"I think the gain in MSG shares earlier in the year as well as the Jason Kidd incident/potential Lin loss that hit the shares yesterday and today has already efficiently been reflected in the stock movement," said Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce.

What's perceived by many to be the legendary mismanagement of the New York Knicks by ownership (and is generally reflected in their winning percentage from the last few seasons) proved a decent map to see where this was headed: Regardless of Lin's ability as a player, he is a global fan phenomenon—for nerds, for Christians, for Asian-Americans—especially in New York City. Lin piqued the interest of those who had no interest in basketball prior to his rise. Lin was essentially responsible for ending one of the most bitter cable carrier disputes in recent history.

And yet: An investment in a consistent, larger fanbase, let alone the potential for Lin's play on the court to elevate the team notwithstanding (which, to an extent, was arguably proven) didn't prove enough for the brass at The Garden to resign Lin. Whether or not it was a good play or not has yet to be seen; given the track record at hand for the team, however, the very least that could be said about the move was that it's not unexpected. Not necessarily because Jeremy Lin wants to make as much money as he possibly can so much as that the Knicks seem to do whatever will further alienate fans and spectators as a matter of course.

Or as New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro:

If the Knicks themselves asked you to look at [Jeremy Lin's numbers, comparable to his inflated asking price], you might wonder where the catch was. The Tappan Zee Bridge couldn’t span that credibility gap. And somewhere in the murky waters below rests the Knicks’ benefit of the doubt. Even if they happen to be right.

It looks like that credibility gap might extend to the fleeting glory of a high-tide share price as well.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

In all actuality, the increase doesn't look so bad on paper compared to the one New York Rangers fans are going to get hit with. Either way, not fun. Via the Knicks Zone blog, the press release issued from MSG:

For the 2012-13 season, Knicks season ticket prices will increase an average of 4.9%, and Rangers will increase an average of 9.5%. Price increases are primarily focused on upper bowl seats, reflecting the new amenities and improved sightlines in the upper bowl.

Much of the focus of the increased ticket pricing is related to said upper bowl seating:

When fans return to The Garden for the 2012-13 seasons, the seating configuration in the upper bowl of the Arena will be completely transformed. The upper bowl will offer larger, more comfortable seating and significantly improved sightlines as the incline for the upper bowl will increase 17 degrees, moving fans seven to 10 feet, or nearly three rows, closer to the action. Season ticket holders will be relocated to new seats accordingly.

Jeremy Lin isn't, for what it's worth, absolutely guaranteed to be with the New York Knicks next season. Jeremy Lin, in the second year of a two-year deal (that didn't start with the Knicks). Chances are—if he's chasing the money, at least—he'll end up in New York. But, as Brian Cronin at Knickerblogger explains, it's not a lock:

Both Fields and Lin are technically restricted free agents. However, due to the so-called “Gilbert Arenas provision,” other teams are limited in what they can offer Fields and Lin. They can only offer them up to the full mid-level. In the case of Fields, they Knicks would be able to match any offer and not have to touch their own mid-level exception (since they have Early Bird Rights on Fields). With Lin, though, they’d have to dip into their mid-level exception.

Odds are that the Knicks won't have a problem selling to season ticket holders, even with the increase. Anybody in those seats (or anybody with them, rather) just saw their team become one of the most exciting and watched sports franchises in the world. Still: If anything makes one conscious of just how worthy an investment is—maybe, in this case—it's the price one pays to keep their cash in the game. Literally.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

The Knicks are Lin-ning! (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

With a couple of heavy-handed losses and a recent Saturday Night Live sketch addressing the inherent racism in jokes about a certain Chinese (and Taiwanese)-American basketball player, we had hoped that the month of terrible Jeremy Lin puns were over. Yet the New York Post started out the week stronger than ever, with a cover exclaiming “Lin-phomania!” The sexual Lin-nuendo of a headline was an even more troubling evolution of Linsanity, given his Tebow-esque devotion to Christianity. We almost wish that the Knicks point guard loses even more games, so his rise to fame isn’t the Lin-ch pin for more horrific puns. (Oh god, we can’t help it, either! Someone make it stop!)

Not that we’re the only ones with our eye on Number 17: Jay-Z and Beyonce made a rare public appearance last week to a Knicks game, despite the fact that Sean Carter had previously announced a change in his allegiances to the New Jersey Nets (soon to be Brooklyn Nets), of which he is part owner along with Mikhail Prokhorov and Bruce Ratner. He’s already told Knicks fans to start trading in their hats and turn their attention to worshiping Kris Humphries but maybe that doesn’t officially kick in until next season. (Then again, Mr. Humphries and his team did defeat the Knicks in a shocking Madison Square Garden game earlier this week, leading to many a “too much MSG” joke. Too many, perhaps?) “Humphries” isn’t nearly as punny as “Lin” but we’ll give him this: whatever Kim Kardashian did to him, it seems to have improved his game.

New York royalty Jay-Z and Beyonce weren’t the only superstars in the audience for New York’s newly hot-again basketball team: Mark Zuckerberg, whose company Facebook recently filed for an IPO, was also seen attending a sports game. If that $100 billion value projection is correct, the be-hooded wunderkind could be scouting out a team to buy himself. (By the way, you know what’s cooler than one hundred million dollars? Of course you do; we all saw The Social Network.)

Orange and blue aren’t the only colors that have caught the eye of New Yorks this week. There’s also red … like the color of newly-appointed Catholic cardinal Timothy Dolan’s new uniform, who was elevated to the position of cardinal on Saturday. He’s already laid out his four big priorities for his new role: two of them involve fundraising, one involves outreach, and the last involves convincing heterosexual Catholics to stop divorcing each other. (Homosexual Catholics, keep doing whatever you want; you’re going to hell anyway.) Last week Cardinal Dolan was leading the crusade with Congressional Republicans against President Obama’s reproductive rights ruling, which would have forced religious employers to pay for health insurance that includes access to contraceptives. Now the White House has compromised with a plan that requires health insurance companies to pay for the care, but neither group is placated. And now a certain presidential candidate is suggesting that use of birth control is morally wrong, which, if you count Mr. Santorum’s kids and assume no use of contraception, probably tells you something about his sex life.  But the posturing and disingenuousness in the so-called debate has been completely Lin-sane... Ahem. Insane. In-sane.

You know what? We give up. We don’t have the Lin-ergy to keep this up. Gooooooo Knickerbockers.

Just the facts, here:

The blackout of the MSG Network for Time-Warner Cable's 2.8 Million customers in New York City started on Sunday, January 1st.

35 days later, as MSG was still dark for Time-Warner customers, Jeremy Lin had his first breakout game with the New York Knicks, on Saturday, February 4th.

13 days later, the MSG/Time-Warner Cable standoff reportedly ends today, February 17, 2012.

Ever since the debut of Jeremy Lin, MSG stock has soared.

On the news that New Yorkers will be able to watch Jeremy Lin play on TV again, just now, MSG stock soared 4.4%:

To wit:

The cost of sports programming is on the rise globally as it is one of the few kinds of live programming still viewed by enough people to attract top advertising dollars. Other TV shows, such as dramas and comedies, are often taped and watched later, when viewers often fast-forward through commercials. TV ratings have jumped since Lin was entered into the starting lineup on Feb 6, according to MSG.

If Time-Warner Cable or MSG return the Observer's request for quote, we'll be sure to ask them the aforementioned question. Since they have not, The Observer cannot report MSG or Time-Warner Cable citing Jeremy Lin as the reason this dispute has ended.

Therefore, to editorialize for a moment, to not think Jeremy Lin is the reason Time-Warner and MSG ended the dispute would call into question one's standing as a sentient human being capable of the most rudimentary logic skills.

To celebrate the end of this standoff, here is Jeremy Lin, teaching you how to dougie.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

The New York Times' New York Knicks reporter Howard Beck just Tweeted out: "Knicks and Jeremy Lin will be coming back to Time Warner cable customers soon. Agreement reached." Times TV sports columnist Rich Sandovir notes: "Seven week impase resolved, with input from Gov. Cuomo and AG Schneiderman."

We've reached out to representatives from Time Warner-Cable and MSG Network; we'll update if they return with quote. The Times story, now up, notes Governor Andrew Cuomo's involvement in the dispute:

Cuomo’s intervention in the past 24 hours with James L. Dolan, the executive chairman of Madison Square Garden, and Glenn Britt, the chief executive of Time Warner Cable, accelerated the agreement.

Gov. Cuomo's statement:

"I applaud both Mr. Dolan and Mr. Britt and their companies. I thank them for being responsive to the needs of New Yorkers."

Thrilling stuff.

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman tried to get involved early in the dispute to no avail, as did city comptroller Jonathan Liu and as of this morning, City Council speaker Christine Quinn.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

The dispute over licensing fees between Time-Warner Cable and Madison Square Garden Entertainment—which owns the New York Knicks and MSG TV—has blacked out the majority of Knicks coverage for New Yorkers since the beginning of 2012. In January, talks had completely stalled out.

The Observer has now learned that MSG Entertainment chairman James Dolan and Time-Warner Cable chairman Glenn A. Britt finally returned to the negotiating table earlier this week.

A source with intimate knowledge of the talks explained that Mr. Dolan and Mr. Britt "met Monday, and discussions have continued since then." That said, the source explained, "Don't get overly enthusiastic about it. The talks have yet to yield anything fruitful."

Regarding the renewed talks, representatives for Time-Warner declined to comment, and representatives for MSG have yet to return a request for comment. In this situation, however, some news is better than no news.

There's been no indication on who returned to the table first, but to call MSG's motivation to return to the table "renewed" would be to wrongly assume they had that much motivation to be there to begin with.

As the company held out through January, their stock ticker kept rising. Now that Jeremy Lin has exploded as an international sensation, what difference could Time-Warner's 2.8 million subscribers in New York City do for the network?

Quite a bit, actually. New York City is one of the most affluent sports markets in the country, and the MSG Network—whose stock has shot up since the Linsanity sensation started—could ratchet up advertiser fees with the renewed interest in the network's star franchise, which is to say nothing of Time-Warner's subscriber fees paid to MSG from each customer that they're still missing on their balance sheets.

Time-Warner's incentive to return to the negotiating table may be less urgent than MSG's. There aren't any readily available loss rates, but the idea of customers going through the pain of switching cable providers en masse to see one channel for one player on one NBA team—even if it is the market's home team—isn't very likely, and if it is, it likely wouldn't represent a majority mass of Time Warner's subscribers so much as supremely annoyed, die-hard Knicks fans. Even then, they'd have some hurdles to climb over, like happening to live in a building equipped for Verizon FIOS (not all of them are) or a south-facing wall they can use to mount something on (like, say, a DirectTV dish).

Linsanity isn't likely to go away any time soon. Whether or not 2.8 million New Yorkers will be able to participate in it before then remains to be seen. Here's hoping this is a good sign, however, and the first of many to come.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Yahoo Sports' The Dish rounds up some of the reaction to the above image, broadcast after last night's Knicks game, which started flying around the internet after CNBC's Darren Rovell noted that the network was "walking a fine line" with it. The Sporting News called it "questionable." News networks and other newspapers, picking up on the outrage—exaggerated, realistic, or potential for it—are also chiming in with their own segments.

One blogger notes: "Hey MSG, he’s a person. He’s a real human with feelings. Maybe next time a little more discretion with your graphics, ok?" He then asks readers to buy his shirt advertising "THE YELLOW MAMBA."

Most of the posts fault MSG for creating the graphic. For their part, they note that they didn't actually make the graphic, a common misconception among reports:

Given that's the only output from them on the matter (no press releases, either), This probably won't sate anybody.

The only take The Observer has found worthwhile in this instance, however, comes from Alexander Chee at The Classical, who registers his "shocked silence" at the graphic, but turns it around on a positive note towards the end:

There’s a light coming off that giant horrible Fortune Cookie, and in it, you can see there are two games Lin is playing and winning—one is basketball, the other is the game the American media complex plays in making you think X about Asians. Winning one wins the other—he makes changing the world look as easy as playing ball. All that sad bullshit coming after him, the Jason Whitlock jokes, the “he’s just getting attention because he’s Asian” stuff, the Fortune Cookie graphics, it’s all an attempt to put him back in his place, back behind the curtain, to make sure he doesn’t really appear. And it’s too late. Many people were making money off of the way things used to be—now they are making money off of the new way. Something in the power of his game has tipped the balance and the kid is money now, literally—he has the ratings on his side, the web traffic, the new army of fans, his team. This isn’t an equal opportunity hire, no one at the Knicks did this to be nice to Asian people—the fortune cookie proves that. No, the people in the Skybox are getting paid. Lin has managed to make something bigger than their bullshit and he’s riding it out from behind the stage.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Here's the thing about New York City and Linsanity: We can feel it. We know it's there. But we can't see it. Since the beginning of the year, subscribers of Time-Warner Cable—New York City's largest cable provider—have been blacked out of watching a majority of the New York Knicks games. The reason? A licensing fee dispute between TWC and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, the company that owns the Knicks and the channel they're on, The MSG Network.

Before, New Yorkers were pissed. Now that their home team stumbled upon the NBA's largest sensation since the professional debut of LeBron James, they're furious, because as of today, the blackout is still ongoing.

These are the numbers behind it:

DAYS GO BY

• Days that Time-Warner Cable Subscribers Have Been Without MSG Channel: 47 days.
• Days since Jeremy Lin's first star-making Knicks game on Feb. 4: 12 days.
• Games since Jeremy Lin's first star-making Knicks game on Feb. 4: 7 games.

 
ON THE OUTS

• Estimated number of New York City's TWC subscribers: 2.8 Million subscribers.
• Number of Knicks games TWC subscribers will have missed in February without Time Warner Cable: 11 Knicks games.
• Number of Knicks games TWC subscribers can see if February without Time Warner Cable: 4 Knicks games.
• Number of New York Knicks, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, and New York Rangers games missed by Time-Warner Subscribers as of today: 147 Knicks, Devils, Islanders, and Rangers games.

 
THE DISPUTE

• Subscription fee increase Time-Warner Cable claims MSG initially agreed on: 6.5% fee increase
• Subscription fee increase Time-Warner Cable claims MSG ended up asking for: 53% fee increase.
• Subscription fee increase ESPN asked for in 2011: 7.88% (or $5.06) fee increase.

 
THE APOLOGIES?

• Number of Days since city comptroller Jonathan Liu lobbied for a reimbursement for TWC customers: 44 Days.
• TWC customer reimbursement fee city comptroller Jonathan Liu lobbied for: $5.95.
• TWC customer reimbursements TWC customers have actually seen: $0.00.
• Value of two-month "sports package" TWC gave customers after MSG outage: $5.95/Month, for two months.
• Amount one guy who complained to Time-Warner Cable enough got reimbursed for the Knicks outage: $2.60/Month, for two months.

 
SCALPER'S DELIGHT

• Percentage of New York Knicks ticket price increase in weeks following Carmello Anthony's 2011 trade to team: 25% ticket price increase.
• Percentage of New York Knicks ticket price increase in weeks following Jeremy Lin's breakout game: 33% ticket price increase.

 
$MSG's WINNING STREAK

• Stock movement of $MSG since TWC-MSG outage started: 11.59% stock increase.
• Stock movement of $MSG since Jeremy Lin's breakout game: 3.36% stock increase*.

 
$TWC's WINNING STREAK

• Stock movement of $TWC since TWC-MSG outage started: 20.53% stock increase.
• Stock movement of $MSG since Jeremy Lin's breakout game: 11.18% stock increase*.
• Estimated stock gains* Charles Dolan—MSG's largest shareholder—has made since Jeremy Lin's breakout game: $19.78 Million in Stock Gains.

 
WHAT'S LIN GOT TO DO WITH IT?

• Number of points Jeremy Lin has scored for New York Knicks in first five starts: 136 Points (or the most by any player since the ABA and NBA merged in 1976).
• How much Jeremy Lin is getting paid: $762,195, or the minimum for an NBA player in his second year.

 
[*As of 02/15/2012, with data provided by Standard & Poor's Capital IQ. Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images.]

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

On Monday, we looked into the publicly-held MSG Entertainment's stock price increase since the New York Knicks' winning streak—and Linsanity—has taken hold.

It looked like this:

And like this:

On Monday, $MSG had closed at $32.28. Trading closed today at $31.91, down from a morning rally that took it to a new high at $32.92. Even at the stock's closing price today, however, the gains made off of Jeremy Lin's entry to the team and their brand new (but already mythologized) winning streak is still great news for $MSG. How great?

Charles F. Dolan—the founder of Cablevision and Madison Square Garden Inc., the director of the company, and father of MSG Chairman and Cablevision President James L. Dolan—holds 6,298,253 shares of common stock in $MSG.

That 11.189% increase the stock gained over the last week has resulted in the value of his holdings increasing by $19.78 Million. James Dolan, by comparison, holds 1,174,092 shares of common stock in $MSG, netting himself a gain of about $3M

The other largest holders and their gains, via Standard & Poor's:

• Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. $18.65M
• T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $17.00M
• GAMCO Investors, Inc. $10.04M
• Clearbridge Advisors, LLC: $8.92M
• The Vanguard Group, Inc. $8.59M
• Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. $7.63M
• Ariel Investments, LLC $7.16M
• River Road Asset Management, LLC $7.15M
• Dolan, Helen A. (Former Director) $6.12M
• BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) $5.89M

 
In light of all that new Knicks money, a reminder of just how much Jeremy Lin is going to make this season from the New York Knicks:

$762,195, or the minimum for an NBA player in his second year.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek