Brown Shows Up for Knicks' Draft Workouts
By BRIAN MAHONEY, AP Basketball Writer 26 minutes ago

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Larry Brown returned to work Monday and performed his normal responsibilities as New York Knicks coach.

At least, that's what four potential draft prospects said.

Brown's future with the Knicks has been the subject of speculation since reports surfaced last weekend that owner James Dolan wanted to buy out his contract after one season.

But nothing has been done yet, so Brown showed up Monday at the team's training center to put the four players through workouts.

And with the media prohibited from witnessing the workouts or talking to Brown, it was then left to those players to relay the interactions between the coach and team president Isiah Thomas — who reportedly could replace Brown as coach.

"I really don't know too much about it, but at the same time they are doing a great job of hiding whatever thing is going on," North Carolina forward David Noel said. "So for the most part, we just went out there and worked out and they did a great job of working us out."

Monday was Brown's first day back on the job since the reports of his departure. A day after the Knicks finished their 23-59 season, Brown and Thomas said the Hall of Fame coach would be back next season.

Even if that is no longer the case, Brown — recovered from recent surgery — didn't seem to act any differently Monday.

"Just by him showing up I think it shows that he still cares for the Knicks organization," Noel said.

Indiana forward Marco Killingsworth, Seton Hall's Kelly Whitney and Leonardo Dos Santos of Brazil were the other players who worked out. Killingsworth was asked six questions about Brown and Thomas before he finally got to one about himself.

Noel and Killingsworth sat on opposite sides of the room — ironic since Brown went to North Carolina and Thomas played at Indiana. But Brown and Thomas apparently worked together just fine Monday.

"They were definitely working as a cohesive unit," Noel said.

The Knicks own the 20th and 29th picks in the first round — though not their own. They traded the rights to that pick to the Chicago Bulls before the season in the deal for center Eddy Curry.

The Bulls will have the second-best chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in Tuesday's draft lottery because the Knicks finished with the NBA's second-worst record.