The Knicks had gone radio silent for three months of upheaval and confusion. Aside from a few PR statements, leadership hid from the fans as the coach was fired, the top basketball executive was reassigned and the best player was traded.
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 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 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.
So who is this new MSG power player and what can we expect?
Stoute, a renaissance businessman, is the self-made son of Trinidadian immigrants whose connections to NYC’s hip-hop scene run deep. He assisted the Nets twice with rebrands after being recommended by Jay-Z. He was on retainer and “overly expensive,” according to a Nets source, but the work certainly was impactful, even if the on-court performance couldn’t match the marketing vigor. Now Stoute is doing the same with the Knicks while pumping up his role as the latest in Dolan’s ear. He called himself the Knicks’ answer to Drake joining the Raptors.
“I’m part of a team,” Stoute said. “But I got a big voice as part of team.”
The Knicks never had a problem selling tickets but they certainly carry branding issues as the league’s laughingstock. Their negative perception is due to three factors unrelated to marketing: 1) the team’s poor performance; 2) the constant turnover of players, coaches and executives; 3) the owner’s behavior.
In other words, Kevin Durant didn’t reject the Knicks and label the franchise as uncool because of their marketing campaigns. But Stoute believes they’re intertwined and said he assisted Dolan in restructuring the front office. Their search landed on power agent Leon Rose, who will be navigating the muddy MSG waters in an unfamiliar role. A source said Rose wasn’t happy with Stoute’s ESPN interview.
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.'”
The strategy of attracting superstars is hardly new for the Knicks. It failed twice in the last decade, with LeBron James/Dwyane Wade rejecting the Knicks in 2010 and Durant/Kyrie Irving choosing Brooklyn instead last summer. In between, they couldn’t get attract another star to play alongside Carmelo Anthony. NBA legends such as Phil Jackson, Isiah Thomas and Larry Brown all tried and flopped under Dolan. Steve Mills, a Princeton businessman and Dolan loyalist, was the latest washout.
But Stoute is certainly a different personality and character to have Dolan’s attention. He can’t be pinned down to a specific label. Stoute has been, at varying times during an entrepreneurial career, a record executive, a film producer, a marketing guru and allegedly had a champagne bottle cracked over his head by Puff Daddy.
His big break was becoming Nas’ manager in the mid-90s, which fostered connections to music influencers. He later feuded with 50 Cent (according to 50 Cent, Stoute told him about Eminem, ‘Don’t do a deal with the white boy’), and contributed to iconic advertising campaigns for Reebok, State Farm and McDonald’s. He developed his own brand as the marketer who can attract a diverse audience to white-bread corporations. He became the savvier and smarter Dame Dash. By a former employee, Stoute was described as “a genius” and a “nightmare boss.”
“Steve is just very dynamic, he makes you believe, he’s the ultimate salesman and he’s really good at selling hope,” said another former business associate of Stoute’s. “Almost creating a feeling of fear, that if you don’t choose him, there’s ramifications for it. And he’s the real deal. At the end of the day, the same way that he’s able to convince bigger brands that they need him, he’s able to convince really talented people that they need to work for him. And then after two or three years, it gets a little frustrated and you have to blow it up.
“In terms cultural momentum and relevancy, there’s a feeling that if you don’t go with Steve or a similar type of agency then you’re just going to be the same old white dudes that keeps f—king up. … Steve is the guy who when you need an African-American voice into your brand and you need legitimacy in that community, Steve Stoute is choice 1 and 1a.”
Stoute is already connected. Very connected. His company, Translation, became the league’s marketing agency of record. That alliance was forged by Stoute’s relationship with the NBA’s former CMO, Pam El, who had previously worked with Stoute while she was employed at State Farm (Stoute helped develop the State Farms advertisements featuring Chris Paul and Aaron Rodgers). Stoute also worked with the Cavaliers and LeBron James, then with the Nets before and after they moved to Brooklyn.
“Steve has a great marketing mind. He is very creative,” said El, who retired in 2018 as the NBA’s CMO. “He understands consumers, He understands the NBA. He understands fans. And he understands New York. He’s a New Yorker. And I think he will do a great job in this role in helping the Knicks.”
Translation’s contributions to the Brooklyn rollout included, among other things, an impromptu photoshoot on the Brooklyn Bridge. Stoute’s team collected two seats and painted them to appear as if they came from Ebbets Field, with the purpose of announcing professional sports was returning to the outer borough. The image was powerful and well-received.
Translation was the Nets’ marketing agency of record for two campaigns. There was some minor friction. According to sources, Stoute took credit for the Nets’ “Hello Brooklyn” slogan, even though that was cooked up the team’s marketing employees while still in New Jersey.
“He wanted to have the feel of the city which I could see him bringing (to the Knicks) where it was like, ‘If you make the shot, the shot sounds like the chain-linked net at the park,'” said a former Nets employee. “In between plays there’d be subway sounds. Stuff like that. We did some of it but not all he wanted.”
But there are limits to marketing.
The Nets, for instance, had built quite the momentum ahead of their move to Brooklyn. There were merchandise rollouts. Logo placement. Billboards. A pep rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall with Marty Markowitz bellowing on a microphone. Jay-Z unveiled the jersey at his concert to open Barclays Center.
And, in the end, it really didn’t matter. The team was decent but fell short of expectations before Mikhail Prokhorov pulled the plug on his plan, and many of the season ticket holders didn’t renew after their three-year packages expired. The Nets quickly went from buzzing to forgotten, recording the league’s lowest attendance and local TV ratings.
It wasn’t until the Nets tore down their model and rebuilt with small developmental increments that they were able to attract Irving and Durant.
“If you don’t live up to the hype in the end, you end up disappointing the fans. You have to be very careful,” said Irina Pavlova, a former senior executive in Mikhail Prokhorov’s front office. “We sold merch and created excitement for the new team and the new arena, but it doesn’t get you points on the court. As far as fans are concerned because it’s good for selling tickets, but it’s a double-edged sword because if you don’t live up to it people turn against you.
“People were getting discouraged that we weren’t going to get to anything substantial. They just weren’t happy with the money they were spending and the commitment. It’s a lot of money.”
The Knicks don’t have a problem finding people to take their money. But they have an issue winning basketball games. Stoute believes he can change that by pitching his connections and business opportunities to star athletes.
We’ll see. After his missteps Tuesday on ESPN, Stoute — like the Knicks — are starting in an unappealing place.
“The Toronto Raptors brought in Drake,” Stoute said. “The Knicks brought in me.”
