James Dolan's 'preference' is to keep Isiah Thomas as Knicks coach
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James Dolan will not stand in the way of Donnie Walsh removing Isiah
Thomas as the Knicks' head coach, according to a team source, but
Dolan has made it clear that his "preference" is to keep Thomas on the
sidelines.
As absurd as it may sound, Dolan is not prepared to completely sever
ties with Thomas, whose record as an executive and head coach is among
the worst in franchise history. The Knicks have not had a winning
season with Thomas in charge and he was also was at the center of an
embarrassing ***ual harassment case that saw a jury rule in favor of a
former Madison Square Garden female executive.
"There isn't a basketball executive alive who would keep Isiah as head
coach, but Jim is telling whoever he interviews, 'I would prefer to
keep Isiah but you do what you have to do,'" said the source, who is
close to Dolan, the Garden chairman. "If Isiah isn't the coach, Jim
still wants him to stay in the organization in some capacity."
Even one Knicks player said Wednesday that it's time for Thomas to go.
"If they're going to keep him here, you can't keep him as the coach,"
said the player, before the Knicks held on to beat the woeful Miami
Heat, 103-96 in overtime, Wedmesday night. "That won't work. He can't
come back and coach the team."
The Knicks have a handshake agreement with Walsh, the former Indiana
Pacers CEO, to run the basketball operation. The two sides are working
to finalize the deal.
Dolan's presence, however, could complicate negotiations. Dolan's
business relation****ps with Dave Checketts, Jeff Van Gundy, Lenny
Wilkens, Marv Albert and Larry Brown did not end well, and Walsh knows
all five. If Walsh reaches out to Brown, that could also work against
the Knicks.
Brown was fired after one season as head coach, and although he feels
betrayed by Thomas, Brown blames Dolan for making the last three
months of his Knicks career miserable. Although Dolan knew that he was
preparing to fire Brown, he still required Brown to attend workouts
for prospective draft picks.
Dolan then refused to pay Brown and used a clause in Brown's contract
that made NBA commissioner David Stern an arbitrator in the dispute.
Brown felt that Dolan's intention was not only to keep from paying him
but to damage his reputation as well.
That Dolan would like to retain Thomas in some capacity may raise red
flags in Walsh's camp. Ever since Dolan took a more active role in the
day-to-day operations of the club, the Knicks have become a
laughingstock NBA franchise.
Wednesday night's victory upped Thomas' record to 43-100 in two
seasons as Knicks head coach. His team is regarded as one of the least
prepared and worst conditioned in the NBA.
Meanwhile, Thomas has essentially stopped working. He canceled
practice on Tuesday and then conducted an 18-minute game-day
shoot-around yesterday. He also continued his habit of showing up
later than normal for games - which he has done more than a dozen
times - blaming it on traffic.Yet when Thomas finally arrived last
night, he told re****ters, "I love the game. I love being around it."
Thomas' questionable work ethic is rubbing off on his players. While
the Heat had eight players going through drills 90 minutes before
tip-off, the Knicks' end of the court was vacant. Several players,
including Malik Rose, David Lee and Mardy Collins, went through
pregame drills, but the contrast was startling.
If Walsh agrees to run the Knicks, he likely will make a coaching
change, and the most likely candidates are former Knick Mark Jackson,
former Bulls coach Scott Skiles and current Celtics assistant Tom
Thibodeau.
But first he will have to do something that Dolan, for whatever
reason, is reluctant to do: fire Thomas. The Daily News re****ted last
month that the Knicks spoke to former Nets assistant GM Kiki
Vandeweghe and that Dolan expressed a desire to keep Thomas on the
bench at that time, too. Both Vandeweghe and the Knicks have denied
talking.
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