Exit Larry Brown, Enter Isiah Thomas


James Dolan wants YOU to drink the Cablevision Kool-Aid.

By Donald Christopher
June 25, 2006
Larry Brown once called the New York Knicks’ coaching position his "dream job."

Well, the dream is officially over. Everyone can wake up now. Larry Brown was fired as head coach of the New York Knicks after only one season. Isiah Thomas, who serves as the team’s president and general manager, will also assume the role of head coach.

Maybe I shouldn’t say “only one season” because that might give the notion that this is about Brown deserving more than just one season to lead the team back into respectability. And this is definitely not about what Larry Brown deserved.

Sure, everyone would have loved to see the Brooklyn-born Brown transform the hometown Knicks into perennial playoff powers once again, but at some point I think we all knew that wasn’t going to happen. Last season was an highly anticipated one in which the team managed to win just 23 games while becoming the NBA’s version of a soap opera. And for the record, no one played the right way.

So of course someone had to lose their job. And I am really hoping that noone expected Isiah Thomas to fire himself, even though he has managed to drive the payroll up to $125 million while assembling one of the worst teams in Knicks history.

I’m sure if Larry Brown could have fired Isiah Thomas, he most certainly would have, but he couldn’t. Only team owner and corporate overlord James Dolan can fire Isiah. And the possibility of the latter happening was unlikely seeing as how Isiah somehow has Dolan in his back pocket.

Dolan did make Brown the highest-paid coach in the league, so apparently he felt Brown was the best coach in the league. I honestly believe Larry Brown was wanted in New York and I honestly believe more than anything Larry Brown wanted to bring a championship to the Big Apple.

So why pay a marquee coach $50 million just to send him packing after only one season? I’ll tell you why. Because it had clearly gotten to a point where the New York Knicks and Larry Brown could no longer exist. You cannot have a player undermining the coach and you cannot have the head coach undermining the general manager. Of course not. That’s what fans and sportswriters are for.

After the soap opera that occurred during the season between Brown and Knicks star point guard Stephon Marbury—that could only have been forgiven with a winning season—there was absolutely no way the two enigmatic personalities were going to coexist. One has to wonder what ever made us believe they could coexist after blatant disregard shown for one another when Brown had the pleasure of coaching Marbury during the unforgiven showing by Team USA in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Yes, Larry Brown did a horrible job this past season, plain and simple. So why aren’t Knick fans celebrating the firing of a coach who led their beloved team to a record of 23-59? Why aren’t fans overjoyed in knowing the organization is no longer accepting anything less than winning? Well, maybe its because fans realize the problem doesn’t begin with Larry Brown and it surely doesn’t end with Larry Brown.

I think fans realize the organization is far from doing everything it could be doing to reverse the team’s misfortunes. Brown’s firing doesn’t exactly speak of revolution, you know. My feeling is, Isiah Thomas...er, James Dolan figured Marbury fit Isiah’s vision more than Larry Brown did. Isiah can no longer play point guard but he still can coach so...

Good bye Larry. No hard feelings.

Should Brown have been given another season to turn it around? Of course. Is Brown being made out to be a scapegoat? Yes, of course. That goes without saying. But this is New York, and for every hero there will be and almost has to be a scapegoat. And on the proverbial scapegoat ladder, Larry Brown was the lowest on the totem pole. That’s just the way it is.

“No one in our organization is happy with last season and we all accept responsibility for our performance,” Thomas said in the statement. “This has been a difficult time for the entire organization and our fans.”

In other words, it’s easier to replace a lame duck coach than overhaul an entire roster filled with crybabies and selfish players—a roster Isiah Thomas himself created. And that would be just like Isiah saying he is to blame. Or NBA commissioner David Stern admitting Dwyane Wade did receive preferential treatment at the end of Game 5 during the NBA Finals. Forget it; it’s not going to happen.

Besides, you know how the old saying goes: You get rid of the coach when you can’t fire the players.

But there is no question the roster was talented enough to win more than 23 games. The players tuned Brown out. When that happens, you have a serious problem. And it had to be addressed.

Yes, towards the end of last season, Thomas did begin to acquire players that obviously went against everything Brown preached. No matter how positive the words spoken by Brown when discussing the arrival of Steve Francis or Jalen Rose, his body language always said otherwise. When the coach already has his hands full with Marbury, you don’t bring in nutcases such as Francis and Rose. You just don’t. But it still doesn’t take away from the fact that there was more than enough talent to win 23 games. And it shouldn’t.

Isiah Thomas once said Brown wasn’t coaching his players the right way. Yes, Larry Brown is still a Hall of Fame coach and he probably has forgotten more about basketball than Isiah will ever know. But Isiah was already in the process of hanging Brown out to dry. As a matter of fact, the Knicks have had back-to-back Hall of Fame coaches and both of them have been kicked to the curb. So apparently Thomas:

a) Knows something noone else knows
b) Was simply attempting to save his own job
c) Has no credibilty

I picked: c.

During the meeting between Dolan, Thomas, Steve Mills, and Larry Brown that ended with Brown being out of a job, one has to get the feeling that while Isiah was going through the process of passionately defending his overpriced and underacheiving roster, Brown noticed the manner in which Dolan was eating up Isiah’s every word. So knowing in his heart there was nothing he could say that was going to change things, Brown—being the crybaby he is—probably stood up, slammed his fist down on the table and made an outrageous statement like, “Okay you try and coach ‘em then Isiah!”

And knowing Isiah Thomas—being quite the opportunist—he gladly obliged.

So there it is. Exit: Larry Brown. Enter: Isiah Thomas.

Now Thomas will get the chance to show Larry Bird...er, Knicks fans he knew what he was talking about all along. Since he made this uncomfortable bed, it seems only fair that he now gets the chance to sleep in it.

Some fans may share the sentiments of perhaps this being in his sinister plans all along but only one person knows that for sure: Isiah, and he’s not telling.

So why aren’t Knicks fans overjoyed at Isiah Thomas getting the oppurtunity to coach his players the right way and thus finally bring an NBA championship back to the city of New York and its long-suffering basketball fans? Well, maybe it’s because fans realize that:

a) Isiah Thomas is no Pat Riley
b) The problem doesn't begin with Isiah Thomas and it surely doesn't end with Isiah Thomas
c) Isiah Thomas has no credibility

I picked: c.

http://www.nykfanpage.com/editorials/viewarticle.php?articleid=196


Pretty good article i guess. Kinda does sum up everything as far as the reasons why Brown had to go, and why most Knicks fans are not jumping for joy at the fact Isiah is the new coach.