ESPN is reporting that New York Knicks owner James Dolan is going to buy out the last 4 years of Larry Brown's contract ($40 million left on it, so you gotta figure it's gonna cost half that to buy it out) and that he is then going to name Isiah Thomas as coach. I'm almost giddy with anticipation of next season if this happens. There appears to be no truth to the rumors that he will then move the team to Washington and rename them the Generals, but only time will tell for sure. To paraphrase Huey Long, Thomas must have pictures of Dolain with either a live boy or a dead girl. Nothing else could explain such monumental cluelessness.
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It absolutely blows my mind that sports owners are so rich that they can just throw away 20+ million dollars like that. No matter how much blame you lay on Larry Brown for last season, how can you possibly think he's hurting the team, not just in terms of basketball development but in terms of the bottom line more generally, to the sum of 20 million dollars? Just to get rid of this negative impact?
From ESPN's mouth to God's ear.
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LOL Jeff. I don't have anything against the Knicks and I don't live or die with the Pistons, though I certainly root for them. My interest in this is pure entertainment value. Apparently the sexual harrassment suit against Thomas has been settled. The woman offered to settle for $5 million, but Thomas countered with an offer of $86 million over 6 years.
LOL!! Damn Ed, you should be a comedian! Oh, wait ...
I think Isiah is going for an NBA record: Most max contracts on one team. The next piece: Kenyon Martin.
My how the careers of Zeke and Joe D. have diverged since their playing careers ended. Since Isiah retired, his career highlights include 1) being the worst TV commentator in the history of sports, 2) driving the 50-some-year-old CBA into the ground in just two years, 3) leading what should have been a championship-caliber Pacers team to a few mediocre seasons, 4) being accused of sexual harassment on multiple occasions, and 5) providing evidence that the size of a team's payroll is inversely proportional to its winning percentage. Meanwhile, Dumars had the NBA Sportsmanship Award renamed after him then quietly put together one of the best teams of the past five years with a group of guys who were largely castoffs.
As a general rule, I think the better a player is on the court, the worse he is as a coach or an executive, at least insofar as most NBA superstars don't have much success following their playing days. The guys who really excel in that capacity are the ones who were quiet, above-average-but-not-superstar-quality guys who lurk in the shadows of their more famous teammates.
As a Pistons fan, I'd like to see Isiah hang it up and retire from public life before his reputation is completely ruined and we have to take his number down from the Palace rafters.
Look, the Knicks might stink now but wait until next year. Isiah is well on his way to rebuilding the Knicks and it all begins with the 20th pick in the 2006 draft. With that pick Isiah will take care of the undervalued position of 3rd string point guard. From there, it's just a matter of time.
To add another twist, Larry Brown is reportedly not interested in any buy-out of his contract. According to his agent, the Knicks must either let him play out the contract, or fire him outright.