From the AP...The New York Knicks are the NBA's most valuable franchise despite nearly $40 million in operating losses last season, according to a list compiled by Forbes.
The Knicks topped the magazine's list for the second straight year with a value of $592 million, up 9 percent from the previous year. They had an NBA-high $185 million in revenues for the 2005-06 season but also topped the league with losses of $39 million.
New York had a payroll of more than $120 million, easily the NBA's largest, while going just 23-59 last season. The Knicks paid coach Larry Brown about $10 million for that season and then paid him another $18.5 million in a settlement after firing him with four years remaining on his contract.
Though Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan said earlier this season that "it's never OK to lose business," he pointed out that the Knicks represented only about 3 percent of the total business of parent company Cablevision.
The Los Angeles Lakers were second at $568 million, while the Dallas Mavericks had a 15 percent jump after their first NBA Finals appearance and were third at $463 million. The Chicago Bulls ($461 million) and Houston Rockets ($439 million) rounded out the top five.
The complete list will appear in Forbes' Feb. 12 issue.