Isiah Thomas and New York Knicks not done Destroying Each Others Legacies
Remember when Isiah Thomas was known as n all-time great basketball player and the New York Knicks were one of the most respected franchises in the league? If you are a freshman in high school you don’t, and for the rest of us that all seems like another lifetime ago. Today the two are just the butt of a lot of jokes, and when the two teamed up from December 22, 2003 to April 18, 2008 it was nothing but a disaster. So when news came out on Friday that the Knicks were considering hiring Thomas to be a consultant most people could not believe the news. Their was no way that the Knicks and owner James Dolan would be that dumb as to think that this was a smart idea. Now today it seems like it could be a done deal if they can get the move approved from the NBA.
Thankfully the move may not get approved because of the fact that Thomas is still the head basketball coach at Florida International (located in Miami, FL and I only know that because I live in Miami), and the NBA has strict rules against team employees from having contact with draft-ineligible players (i.e. high school, college, and international players who are not yet drafted). As a basketball fan I pray that the NBA keeps with the letter of its laws, if not just to prevent a precedence where NBA teams will have current college players on their payroll, but to just stop the Knicks from doing an all-time stupid move.
For those of you who do not remember the Isiah Thomas tenure in New York, it was pretty much defined by signing bad players to huge contracts. Thomas went out and at different times in his tenure added Stephon Marbury, Steve Frances, Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford, Malik Rose, Jalen Rose, Jerome Williams, Penny Hardaway, and Eddie Curry who will still cost the Knicks $11 million in 2010 to have Curry sit on their bench. In the meanwhile Thomas traded away draft picks whenever he could, but when he did keep his picks he did draft David Lee, Nate Robinson, Wilson Chandler, and Trevor Ariza (who he then sent to Orlando in the Steve Frances deal). Thomas also drafted Renaldo Balkman with the 20th pick in 2006 who was out of the league three years later.
Isiah did not only make poor personnel choices, but they resulted in a lot of losses during his time in New York. The season that Thomas was hired was the Knicks best season and only trip to the playoffs since 2001. In that ’03-’04 season the Knicks won 39 games and were swept out of the first round of the playoffs. Since then the Knicks average record has been 29-53, and they are 28-54 in years that he was the head coach.
Of course I almost feel bad mentioning the lawsuit that the Knicks and MSG had filed against them because of comments that Isiah made to a female employee. And if I really felt like dumping on Thomas I could talk about how he go the boot in Toronto and Indiana, and how he ran the CBA into bankruptcy. How he failed to make any impact on LeBron James decision when the Knicks sent him on their behalf to talk to him. Or how it has taken Donnie Walsh two years to try and get the Knicks salary cap back in order.
All that failure, and the Knicks think that having Thomas as a consultant is a good idea, come on… really? The Knicks need to keep Isiah in their past, and if I’m Donnie Walsh I would seriously threaten quitting if Thomas is hired because Thomas is not going to be happy with just being a consultant. The guy wants to be a GM, and the Golden State Warriors practically file a restraining order to get Thomas to stop bothering them about the position even though the Warriors had no interest in Thomas. Unfortunately neither Thomas or Dolan really know how to deal with failure, and that is just what their first union was, and the two are still friends. I guess from the two of their perspectives they most figure, it couldn’t be any worse this time around… could it?
BC's Views From the Cheap Seats 
I respect Isiah’s achievements and respect for the game. No one can deny the fact that he dominated during his era and top condition. And as a player who plays the Point Guard position I do believe he has a good idea on how things should be played and done.