Isiah has a broken record

Shaun Powell
SPORTS COLUMNIST


April 2, 2006

It is the final month of a fractured season - the worst in team history, all things considered, maybe the worst in NBA history, all things considered. Changes are coming, and Rich Coffey is curious about one in particular.

"Are they gonna fire him?" he asks.

No, he is told. Isiah Thomas has the support of the owner and isn't going anywhere.

"Well," Coffey said, "eventually they will. He's a laughingstock. People are laughing at him, which means they're laughing at New York."

This is a terribly harsh though not a terribly inaccurate assessment coming from somebody who predicts more doom for the Knicks as long as Isiah remains team president.

This is from a former team owner of the former Continental Basketball Association, the B-league once ruled and owned by Thomas until it crumbled in a financial heap in less than two years.

This is from someone who did not, and will not, forget what happened the last time Thomas was put in charge of an operation.

"He has not been successful as an NBA coach or a businessman," Coffey said, his voice rising. "He has done nothing well except play the game. He has no business sense. There's a reason he failed in the CBA and a reason he made the Knicks the worst franchise in basketball. He doesn't know what he's doing.

"I feel sorry for the fans. They're getting screwed. It's painful to watch the Knicks. They were bad last year, they'll be bad next year. It won't change."

The Knicks are largely the work of Thomas, so draw your own conclusion about his competence. They have the highest payroll in NBA history. At 19-52, they have the NBA's worst record this season. The Bulls own the Knicks' No. 1 draft pick this summer. The Bulls control the Knicks' No. 1 pick next summer. And the salary cap will grab the Knicks by the throat for at least three more years.

They're a joke, and Coffey is correct: People are laughing, everywhere except New York and various spots in the heartland that once were home to CBA teams.

Those people remember the promises Thomas made when he purchased an ailing but proud league for roughly $11 million in 1999. They saw him as a sharp basketball savior. They put their franchises in his hands. And 18 months later, when he bailed, they saw a lot of red ink.

"He had all of these grand dreams," Coffey said, "which is OK, but not when it doesn't become reality. When it didn't materialize, he wrecked us financially and then abandoned us."

Coffey now owns an Arena Football League team in Fort Wayne. He once owned the Fort Wayne Fury and, like the other CBA owners, wanted to be absorbed by the NBA as the official farm system. That would've given them a sugar daddy and a firmer financial future. But they say their idea wasn't shared by Thomas. They say he doubled the budget, refused their suggestions and played hardball when the NBA offered to buy.

After negotiations collapsed, the NBA backed out, then later formed the Developmental League. Thomas took the Pacers' coaching job while the CBA declared bankruptcy.

Thomas has constantly refused to comment about the CBA, referring all questions to David Stern.

Speaking of questions, Coffey raised a few: Did the Knicks weigh Thomas' work in the CBA before they hired him? Did the Knicks bother to check with Pistons owner Bill Davidson, who chose Joe Dumars to run his team instead of Thomas?

"If Isiah was so smart, he would've gotten that job instead of Dumars," Coffey said. "Somebody in New York didn't do their due diligence. That owner in New York was star-struck, and if you meet Isiah, you are star-struck. We were, too, until we found out he's not a very nice person, and until people started hesitating because of what they'd heard."

By all indications, Knicks owner James Dolan will not hesitate. He will keep Thomas and let Thomas make more moves. This means more drafts, more trades, more signings for a team with too many odd parts and too little salary-cap wiggle room.

Dolan has two things in abundance: money in his pocket and faith in Isiah. And he shows no sign of losing either.

If he finally gets tired of one of them - Isiah, not the money - a former CBA owner has a replacement lined up.

"There are five people in my office," Coffey said, "who can manage the cap, hire talent, realize chemistry and do a better job in their sleep than Isiah."

which part of this isnt true?

the suns, bulls, orlando, and toronto are in better positions today than they were before isiah became the knicks gm.

marv - i said people. dido is an existential being that is from a far superior species.

whoopty-do..... blame players, blame brown and lets not forget zeke!

thats only because ultimate responsibility is on zeke

knick fans lets play the record game