Isiah Thomas is not fired, just banned-Posted 8:15 last night on NYPOST.
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joec32033
Posts: 30632 Alba Posts: 37 Joined: 2/3/2004 Member: #583 USA |
4/22/2008 4:53 AM
Isiah Thomas is not fired, just banned
BY FRANK ISOLA DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Monday, April 21st 2008, 8:15 PM Isiah Thomas must stay away from the Knicks' facilities. Spearman/AP Isiah Thomas must stay away from the Knicks' facilities. When, not if, Mark Jackson arrives in New York, he won't have to worry about Isiah Thomas meddling with the players or making any surprise visits to the Knicks' training headquarters in Westchester. According to a team source, Thomas has been barred from having any contact with the team as part of his reassignment agreement with Knicks president Donnie Walsh. Such an agreement is critical for a new coach as he tries to reestablish a winning culture at Madison Square Garden and distance himself from the Thomas regime. Thomas is responsible for acquiring every player on the current roster and the fear is that if he were allowed to have any contact, including telephone calls, he could either willingly or unwillingly undermine the incoming coach. That agreement, however, does not prohibit Thomas from speaking to Garden chairman James Dolan, who was been a staunch supporter of Thomas despite four straight losing seasons. Walsh, who removed Thomas as coach last week, apparently is comfortable with the arrangement and more concerned now with finding Thomas' successor. Jackson is not only the leading candidate, but he appears to be the only candidate to become the Knicks' next head coach. Walsh is expected to meet with Jackson this week and there is a possibility a deal could be in place sometime within the next seven to 10 days. A Chicago Bulls source confirmed that the team has contacted Jackson about its coaching vacancy. It is unclear if Jackson, unavailable for comment yesterday, will interview with the Bulls. Jackson's lone competition, Scott Skiles, signed on with the Bucks yesterday. It appears that Jeff Van Gundy, who has endorsed Jackson, never was a serious candidate. One report, citing an unnamed source who was with Walsh during Friday's conference call in which Walsh officially removed Thomas as coach, suggested that the new team president mocked a reporter's question as to whether Van Gundy would be a candidate. According to the source, Walsh made a gesture with a fake pen and pretended to write Van Gundy's name as if he were adding the former Knick coach to a make-believe list. If the source is suggesting that Walsh was never going to consider Van Gundy for the job, it makes Walsh look bad on many levels. Why would Walsh ridicule the third- winningest coach in franchise history, who also happens to be the people's choice for the job, and yet go out of his way to publicly praise Thomas, who was arguably the worst coach in team history and despised by fans? Also, if Walsh was just paying lip service to the suggestion that Van Gundy is a candidate, was he also not being forthcoming when he said that Dolan "absolutely had no input" with the decision to reassign Thomas? Either way, Walsh learned a lesson about trusting this organization as he tries to familiarize himself with employees. Walsh seems sincere about wanting to revamp the club's notorious media policy, yet less than a month into the job he already has been embarrassed twice by his own staff. Ten days ago, his interview with reporters was documented by a media relations official without Walsh's knowledge. This week, a private moment was leaked as a way to humiliate Van Gundy, but it instead made Walsh look petty and vindictive. Moreover, Van Gundy has been effusive in his praise of Walsh and even eliminated a potentially awkward situation by essentially saying on Saturday that he had no interest in returning to coaching and that Jackson was the right - and only - man for the Knicks' job. NYPOST ~You can't run from who you are.~
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BigSm00th
Posts: 24504 Alba Posts: 0 Joined: 12/9/2001 Member: #178 USA |
4/22/2008 10:47 AM
why dont they just fire him? i don't get the point of keeping the guy around at all
#Knickstaps
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Isiah Thomas is not fired, just banned-Posted 8:15 last night on NYPOST.