Tag: Steve Stoute

“James Dolan is misunderstood,’’ Stoute …

Patrick Mahomes, Knicks consultant Steve Stoute to appear on ‘The Shop’

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James won’t be featured in the upcoming episode, but it promises to be interesting nonetheless.

HBO and UNINTERRUPTED’s The Shop, produced by LeBron James and his partner Maverick Carter, has found a niche for athletes and entertainment personalities to express themselves in a comfortable setting where they feel they can control the narrative. Joining Drake and Antonio Brown as entertainment personalities that are hoping to tell their side of the story is New York Knicks brand consultant Steve Stoute.

In Brian Windhorst’s book LeBron Inc., Windhorst described that Stoute was an influential advisor earlier in James’ career. Stoute cut his teeth in the music business and recently was hired by the Knicks recently to help them revamp their branding efforts. However, he did have a bit of a stumble in his first public appearance on behalf of the Knicks. Stoute’s appearance on First Take last month went so poorly, suggesting that the current coaching staff would be replaced among other things, that the Knicks issued a statement refuting many of the things that he said. He will get a chance at trying to reframe the story in the next episode of “The Shop,” which is scheduled to air on Saturday, March 7, at 10 p.m.

Carter and Stoute will be joined by Super Bowl MVP and champion Patrick Mahomes, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, actors Tiffany Haddish and Chadwick Boseman, as well as chart-topping artist Roddy Ricch and “The Shop” co-creator Paul Rivera.

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There’s skepticism around the league …

There’s skepticism around the league that Stoute can make any difference in turning the Knicks around. “That’s just another foolish thing from Dolan. He’s saying Steve Stoute will help me get those guys (superstar free agents) and they don’t realize it – it’s not about that,” said a longtime NBA executive whose team worked with Stoute. Added another executive, “Steve is going to take his check and say, ‘Hey, I tried.’”

From that chaos and confusion, Steve …

From that chaos and confusion, Steve Stoute emerged Tuesday to declare he’s a prominent voice in the organization and, once again, the Knicks are chasing superstars. “The biggest thing is getting free agents and players to know this is a place to show up, this is where they should be,” Stoute said on ESPN’s ‘First Take.’ “I think that narrative has been lost. Players haven’t come, a free agent hasn’t come. And if we can solve that problem, which I know we will, we have a great chance. We’re the most iconic team in the league by far.”

Stoute didn’t go into great detail …

Stoute didn’t go into great detail about his plan but the overall message was that the Knicks are a marquee franchise and will act accordingly. That means attracting superstar players, personalities and a dynamic coach. What was assumed about interim coach Mike Miller’s future was essentially confirmed by Stoute — that Miller’s playing out the string this season. “There had to be a change in (firing team president Steve Mills). That change will bring a new coach and new coaches that are going to help develop these younger players,” Stoute said. “And they got some young players — you see RJ Barrett, Mitch Robinson. They got something to work with. And getting a coach in there and ultimately getting a coach and a coaching staff that’s going to help develop a team. That’s what I expect to happen so that we can actually get to what you expect from a New York team.”

The Knicks, recognizing the …

The Knicks, recognizing the audaciousness of a “branding consultant” essentially firing the head coach on ESPN, issued a statement disassociating themselves from Stoute’s comments. But it was clear that Stoute, at least in his own mind, carries heavy influence over the organization moving forward, beyond his rebranding expertise.

Knicks branding specialist Steve Stoute somehow made the Knicks even messier

OH BOY.

The perpetual dumpster fire that is the New York Knicks just keeps getting hotter and hotter. This time it’s the guy who they hired to put out the fire who is actually spraying it with a gasoline right now.

Steve Stoute, the branding specialist and marketer the Knicks hired to clean their image up, made a big mess on Tuesday.

Stoute jumped on First Take to talk about….his job description? No, seriously. He came to talk about how he was going to rebrand the Knicks.

From the jump, it was clear he was very uncomfortable with the conversation — which is reasonable for a guy, what, two weeks on the job? This entire conversation is making me squirm over here. Imagine being Stoute sitting in that chair knowing your billionaire owner boss is listening.

Yeah…who approved this appearance again?

During his appearance, Stoute alluded to potential coaching changes being on the way. Interim head coach Mike Miller is at the helm now, but Stoute alluded to a new coach being on the way despite him having no control over personnel. HOO BOY.

“There had to be a change in  [with Steve Mills fired]. That change will bring a new coach and new coaches that are going to help develop these younger players. And they got some young players — you see RJ Barrett, Mitch Robinson. They got something to work with. And getting a coach in there and ultimately getting a coach and a coaching staff that’s going to help develop a team.”

Apparently, that’s outside of Stoute’s job description. How do we know? Because the Knicks told us. Yup. That’s right. ANOTHER KNICKS TWITTER STATEMENT.

At least it wasn’t on the notes app this time?

This is… definitely not a good look for Stoute. Talk about a rough first couple weeks at the new gig.

You KNOW you did something wrong when you’ve even got Woj roasting you on the TL. Woj doesn’t even tweet things.

Out of pocket, Woj. Out of pocket. A rough day for y’all Knicks, fans. Hopefully, you have better days ahead. It can’t get any worse, right?

Pray for Charles.

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