I’ve located the source of James Dolan’s health troubles — he learned over the weekend that Allan Houston was planning on announcing his retirement, and the giddy thoughts of salary cap relief provoked sudden chest pains.
Of course, I’m not a doctor.
From the NY Times’ Howard Beck (thanks to MMV Tan for the link):
Allan Houston, the last link to the Knicks’ Eastern Conference championship team of 1999, has decided to retire and will make his decision public later this afternoon.
The Knicks did not immediately announce the decision, but in a statement said they would hold a “major press conference” at 4 p.m. A team official confirmed that Houston’s retirement was the purpose of the press conference.
Houston informed his teammates before practice this morning, then left the team’s training center.
Houston, 34, has been plagued by knee injuries for more than two years, and his decision to retire was both unsurprising and inevitable. He played just 20 games last season, and 50 the season before, and although he stubbornly vowed to make a comeback, it had been clear for some time that his career was in its twilight.
Houston, shown above opposite Claudia Schiffer in James Toback’s “Black & White”, does have his acting career to fall back on.