In spite of his recent troubles with the city of New York, rumor has it that Jeff Bezos wants to buy the Knicks. At least, that's the sort of hot goss that former Knick Charles Oakley is hearing. The power forward said that his little birds (relatively speaking for someone who is 6'8) told him that Bezos wanted to take over the franchise in the heart of Manhattan after being burned by NYC.
"I heard that. Jeff Bezos wants to buy the Knicks. He still wants to do some real estate in New York so why not buy the Garden?" Oakley said during the pilot episode of The Ringer's new cooking show Tough Chef with Charles Oakley.
He added that Bezos had the kind of money to move on any decision he wanted to make without having to wait for investors or loans.
The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Jason Concepcion were incredulous. Bezos didn't have the best luck when he attempted to muscle his way into New York. The Amazon CEO found that not every city was as accepting of his strong-arm tax tactics and he pulled the plug on a planned NYC HQ2 when he was met with resistance. Now that he's retreated to Virginia, it doesn't seem likely that Bezos would want anything to do with New York. However, Oakley stood firm in what he had heard.
Of course, Bezos has had a lot more than buying a sports team on his mind in recent weeks. The billionaire was humbled quite a bit when texts from an affair he was having with Lauren Sanchez leaked to the press. Those were the least of his worries, however, as reports that the National Enquirer was blackmailing the CEO after obtaining his nudes surfaced. The whole scandal was enough to cause a rift with his wife MacKenzie Bezos who is walking Jeff through a divorce that will include the divvying up of the couple's $137 billion fortune.
This is all to say, we're doubtful of a Knicks deal any time in the near future, even if Bezos wants it. Take a look at Oakley's claim up top.
