There was no Knicks victory and there was no James Dolan-ordered parabolic microphones on the Garden court for yesterday’s Martin Luther King Day matinee.
After using gigantic audio mikes to tape-record Carmelo Anthony’s conversations with opponents on the court for the last two home games, Dolan backed off. Commissioner David Stern gave his endorsement — sort of — that Dolan is legally in the clear to “eavesdrop’’ on oncourt conversations. But Stern added “sanctions’’ would be in order if Dolan tried to mike up an opponent’s huddle or locker room.
Dolan was upset about Anthony’s one-game suspension in his tiff with Kevin Garnett and was attempting to avoid a similar “he-said, he-said’’ situation by having audio evidence. However, the Garden vibe was because Dolan used ridiculously sized mikes for the ploy, it was more having a little fun with the situation than actual espionage.