While the New York Knicks were battling to win the NBA Finals earlier this month, Mitch Modell landed in the middle of a testy exchange with the new owner of Modell\u2019s Sporting Goods \u2014 capping months of failed negotiations to buy back the faded retail brand, The Post has learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The former \u201cUndercover Boss\u201d and CEO of the sporting-goods chain, which went bankrupt in 2020 and closed 140 stores<\/a>, on Monday revealed MitchellModells.com<\/a>, a new online apparel site that\u2019s selling a T-shirt commemorating the Knicks\u2019 historic title.<\/a><\/p>\n That was after months of on-again, off-again talks to buy back the 137-year-old brand \u2013 famous for its \u201cGotta go to Mo\u2019s\u201d jingle \u2013 fizzled in acrimony, sources told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n The New York Knicks won the NBA championship on June 13 in San Antonio. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n On June 12 \u2013 the day before the Knicks clinched the championship \u2013 Modell was locked in a heated text exchange with Raj Gupta, head of Omni Retail Enterprises, which had scooped up Modell\u2019s in 2023.<\/p>\n Omni now operates Modell\u2019s as an e-commerce business, and the site was down \u2014 just as a frenzy for Knicks merchandise was going full-tilt.<\/p>\n \u201cModell\u2019s website is closed down for maintenance??? Everybody is calling where to buy shirts,\u201d the 72-year-old Modell texted Gupta. \u201cYou blew it. I hope you choke on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gupta responded, \u201cStop texting me,\u201d and later, \u201csite back up. FYI.\u201d<\/p>\n Modell replied with a thumbs-up emoji \u2014 and that was the last they communicated, according to both parties. That\u2019s after talks that had gone as far as a written, unsigned sale agreement that had been drafted by Gupta\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n