http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2007/12/20/2007-12-20_steve_mills_fuming_over_state_of_knicks-4.html

Steve Mills fuming over state of Knicks
BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Thursday, December 20th 2007, 4:00 AM


Isiah Thomas glared at the reporter who had just asked him if he would ever consider stepping down as Knicks coach, and then provided an answer that won't sit well with most fans.

"Never," Thomas growled as he stormed away.

So much for a graceful exit. One week after making bizarre comments that he will stick around until death, and on the day fans were staging a protest calling for his ouster outside Madison Square Garden, Thomas once again ruled out resigning on Wednesday. Thomas reportedly is owed $24 million, and if Garden chairman James Dolan wants to make a coaching change, the Knicks boss would have to pay a hefty price.

Although Dolan has refused to comment publicly on Thomas' status, the fact that Thomas is still employed after everything that has transpired suggests that Dolan stands behind the team president and head coach. But not everyone in Dolan's inner circle feels the same way. According to a high-ranking Garden official, Garden president Steve Mills is seething over the state of the franchise as well as the damage Thomas has done to Mills' reputation.

Mills, of course, is responsible for hiring both Thomas and Anucha Browne Sanders, who last week received an $11.5 million settlement in her sexual harassment case against Thomas and Madison Square Garden.

Mills has remained conspicuously silent on Thomas' job status and has maintained a low profile since the trial ended. For years there has been talk of a power struggle between Thomas and Mills. In fact, a person close to Thomas said that the Knicks coach did not feel that Mills gave him enough public support in the months and weeks leading up to the trial.

However, Mills did give powerful testimony on the Garden's behalf to undermine Browne Sanders' credibility during the September trial. It was an emotional trial and verdict for Mills, whose family had been longtime friends with the plaintiff and her family. Browne Sanders told close associates that she was most disappointed in Mills' conduct after she originally filed the lawsuit, as well as in his testimony.

Mills is in a tricky position because he evolved into Dolan's right-hand man after Mills' former boss, Dave Checketts, was forced out. Dolan, however, has grown close to Thomas, siding with him in his feud with Larry Brown and supporting him before, during and after the Browne Sanders trial.

Now, both Mills and Thomas are trying to salvage their careers, both of which have been damaged considerably over the past few years. Checketts hired Mills from the NBA league office, and Mills' close ties with commissioner David Stern also create a unique dynamic.

The league encouraged Dolan to settle the Browne Sanders case out of court and Stern reportedly is trying to convince Dolan to revamp his front office and hire someone such as Jerry Colangelo, Jerry West, Donnie Walsh or Kiki Vandeweghe. Mills could be acting as the intermediary between Stern and Dolan.

A shakeup in the Knicks front office could spare Mills. But as long as Thomas continues to survive, Mills could be in danger. Thomas, of course, wasn't Mills' first choice to replace Scott Layden. Mills initially reached out to Magic Johnson, who turned down the job and advised Mills to talk to Thomas. Saturday marks the four-year anniversary of Thomas' hiring.

I think its interesting now that Mills has less juice than Isiah. Mills should be dumped in addition to Thomas.

The Daily News had a Fire Isiah full page ad?

Did the daily news pay for the ad or did someone else?

Posted by Andrew:

Did the daily news pay for the ad or did someone else?

SAS said the ad was sponsored by the Daily News not an individual...He went on to say he worked for the Daily News and there are some good people there but is surprised the organization would do something like this....

Posted by VDesai:

If you remember that article from a couple weeks ago from the Observer, Isola has been getting frozen out of access from the Knicks for some time now. The Daily News as an org must be frustrated with lack of access. It lacks journalistic integrity to do something like pull a full page ad like that, but the Daily News is a tabloid and never has claimed to be anything more.

Back to Mills though, it reeks of CYA that he's leaking stuff to the news now of him being upset with Thomas. This fool hasn't said anything in years and it was his idea to go after splashy guys like Magic or Thomas here. He is a bufoon and responsible as the other two stooges for this mess.

This is not about responsibility.
This is about an ability to eat another roach in the bottle first.
Looks like Mills is in better position now. But it will not be easy to kick Isaih a..ss out.

And they couldn't just add the .com? Bastards

;)

But none of this surprises me. Isiah is a skunk and everybody near him is running for tomato juice to bathe in. Hey, maybe we can all rally to help them with the tomatoes. Let's say they lose and we can just throw a few their way ;)

Oh, I wish. Anyway, all jokes aside (hard to do) I really feel that he'd be wise to part himself from this franchise and start over. As Tony Page (if I recall correctly) was saying on WFAN earlier, if you are an executive from another team, would you want to hire anybody from this regime?

This smells like a PR move preceding a 'transition period'. I can't blame him if he wants to move on. Regardless of whether or not he feels he can survive the necessary purge that has to take place sooner (hopefully) than later (ugh).

Posted by Klytus:

I officially dislike Magic Johnson.

LOL!

I was thinking the same thing.

Posted by BigC:

Mills will not get fired because he is making Dolan money. As long as the money is flowing Mills is here to stay. Also isn't Mills in charge of other operations besides the Knicks?

He runs the Garden. He does what Checketts did.

Therefore he oversees every Garden event, the Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, concerts, venues such as the police academy graduation, the Circus (oh wait I already said he oversees the Knicks!), Boxing events...... you name it.

As to the "making money" comment wouldn't that mean that NOBODY would get fired since MSG as a whole makes a ton of money? I don't like that idea....and I hope it's not true.

David Stern is to thank for giving us Steve Mills fyi.... he was Stern's recommendation. Thanks a lot, Dave!

Mills runs the place the way Dolan wants him to. That's why he was hired. He operates the sports wing and Garden of Dreams not the entire Garden. He was very good at every job he had when he worked in the NBA office. It's the same with almost everyone in the Knicks organization. If Supranowitz were elsewhere, he would be a great pr exec as opposed to the "male secretary" and keeper of the sacred media policy that Dolan has him operating as now. It's why Vince Jackson left, why Van Gundy left, why Maureen Coyle (one of the best PR execs in the game) left the Liberty and why other people in the organization left.

Dolan only knows one way. If you're good at your job, you'll basically either leave, get fired or become a shill. Unlike Thomas, as soon as Mills leaves, he'll have tons of other offers because he built up a reputation around the league. He was the golden boy and I doubt he's going to let Thomas and Dolan ruin that for him.

The Knicks execs aren't incompetent, they've just been brow-beaten into doing whatever it takes to keep their jobs instead of doing their jobs. They stick around because the money and the benefits are some of the best in the league, plus it's still the World's Most Famous. Dolan manages like Isiah coaches - you never know what his mood is going to be. Most of them land on their feet because other people around the league know this.

Barry Watkins, VP of Communications, has been scheming on Mills' job for the longest, making power moves. He's the "high ranking official" leaking everything to the media. I sincerely doubt Mills is the one leaking his unhappiness with Isiah to the media. It sounds more like Watkins playing both sides against the middle as usual. So for all the talk of Walsh or Colangelo or whoever, he's probably who you're going to end up with if Mills leaves, which would be horrible for the Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. It'd be like going from Layden to Thomas only in the board room this time.

Yeah really, how do you know that about Supranowitz (Who is suddenly and magically becoming a famous name here on UK) being such a good worker, as well as Mills and all those other names (Besides Van Gundy.)