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Report: Knicks Owner Jim Dolan Won't Be Punished For Angry Email To Fan

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) -- Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan won't be punished by the NBA for an angry email he sent to a fan, commissioner Adam Silver told the New York Post on Monday.

"Jim is a consummate New Yorker," Silver said. "Jim got an unkind email and responded with an unkind email."

On Sunday, news surfaced that Dolan responded to a Knicks fan who had criticized him with an email. In his response, Dolan wondered if the man is an alcoholic and told him to root for the Nets instead.

An MSG spokesman confirmed the email, which appeared Sunday on Deadspin.com, was written by Dolan.

Dolan called the father of filmmaker Aaron Bierman a "hateful mess" and a "negative force" to anyone with whom he comes into contact.

"You most likely have made your family miserable. Alcoholic maybe," Dolan wrote. "I just celebrated my 21- year anniversary of sobriety. You should try it. Maybe it will help you become a person that folks would like to have around."

The elder Bierman had written Dolan and said he was a Knicks since 1952 who was tired of Dolan's management of the team and urging him to sell.

"As a Knicks fan for in excess of 60 years, I am utterly embarrassed by your dealings with the Knicks," he wrote.

Dolan has been in charge of the Knicks since 1999. He ended his response by saying to "start rooting for the Nets because the Knicks (don't) want you."

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