Before anyone asks for it, here it is.

NEW YORK -- On one side of the room will sit Larry Brown and his team of attorneys, looking to cash out the right way and walk off with the mother of all lump sums, a boatload of money bigger than any payment ever rendered to any coach in the history of professional sports.

On the other side will sit James Dolan, along with his cadre of Cablevision attorneys and various other representatives of the New York Knicks, beseeching the man at the head of the table to grant them up to $53.5 million worth of slack.

In the position of power will sit NBA commissioner David Stern, who plays the role of arbitrator in the final episode of the marriage-turned-circus act-turned divorce between one Lawrence Harvey Brown and James L. Dolan.

League officials said this will be the first instance of Stern serving as an arbitrator between a team and one of its former employees, noting that the 1995 tampering dispute between the Knicks and the Miami Heat regarding Pat Riley was one of the few comparable recent instances in which Stern served as judge and jury.

The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. ET Friday in a Manhattan boardroom, barring a settlement beforehand. Both sides have been preparing diligently and feverishly over the past several days, with depositions in the case tying up the time of Knicks executives all week. Brown's lawyers, who planned to depose former NBA coaches to provide supporting statements before Stern's representatives, indicated there would be no need to submit such testimony. The financial risks for both sides are enormous, and it'll come down to a case of Stern judging the merit of the Knicks' argument that they fired Brown "for cause" because he violated his contract, and thus do not have to pay him.

Dolan gave somewhat of a preview of the Knicks' case when he spoke with team beat writers in July.

The Knicks contend Brown violated his contract through insubordination by refusing to return team president Isiah Thomas' calls during last season's playoffs when Brown was in limbo for 40 days as the team refused to comment on a New York Post report that Brown would be fired and Thomas would replace him.

Dolan also will charge that Brown undermined Thomas' authority by contacting other general managers and coaches and discussing trade possibilities.

"We actually had two instances where Isiah was negotiating with a team and the GM said, 'That's great, but I got a better offer from your coach,'" Dolan said. "We brought this to Larry, we talked to him. I talked to him about it and said it can't be -- you have to focus on coaching. Tell us what you want in the team and Isiah will do his job and go out and get the players that you want. We actually went through a series of meetings on this, discussing what the makeup of the team would be. I attended the first couple of them to make sure that everything was on track with it and continuing to reiterate to both Isiah and Larry, but particularly to Larry, to do your job, not the other guy's job."

When Dolan met with Brown in early July and ultimately fired him, he brought along a sheet of paper that he wanted Brown to sign, pledging to adhere to company media policies and to cease meddling in player personnel negotiations with other teams. Dolan said Brown refused to even look at the paper, insisting instead that Dolan agree to waive and/or trade a half-dozen players whose contracts totaled $180 million.

"He knew that wasn't possible," Dolan said. 'He is saying: 'I'm going to make you fire me.'"

Another aspect of the Knicks' case is their contention that Brown routinely and deliberately violated team media policy guidelines.

"We had a very specific discussion before we hired Larry about the press policy. The press policy basically is that we never communicate to our employees through the press. We don't use the press as the medium by which we talk to each other. I'm sure all of you remember the days of Jeff Van Gundy and Ernie Grunfeld, and the circus that that was, and that's how we came to that decision about that policy. I think it's a well founded policy. Larry absolutely agreed to that policy and said he completely understood it and thought it was the right thing, and . . . to go into the season and so quickly start having our players be talked to through the press was a surprise.

"I think that there is a stack of evidence that high," Dolan said, holding his hand three feet above his desk in describing a collection of press clippings in which Brown was judged to be criticizing his players.

Brown has hired the powerhouse Washington law firm Williams and Connolly to defend him, asking Stern to award him $53.5 million -- the $41 million remaining on his five-year contract, plus $12.5 million in additional damages and attorneys' fees.

It was unknown whether any serious settlement discussions had taken place, or whether Stern would offer both sides a deal they could live with before commencing a hearing that could result in an all-or-nothing verdict for either side. Brown's anxiousness will be compounded by his belief, shared with confidants after Brown felt he was snubbed by Stern following the 2005 NBA Finals, that Stern dislikes him and blames him for the failure of the 2004 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team.

Still, it was at Brown's insistence during contract talks that Stern be installed as the arbitrator of any dispute. Stern had to sign off on the idea, and now it's coming to fruition. Not to impugn Stern's impartiality, but the smart money bettors would undoubtedly favor Stern siding with one of his owners -- a thought that's certain to creep into the heads of Brown's attorneys if they happen to be offered a settlement prior to the hearing.

"Whatever the commissioner decides, if it is to pay him all of the money, or none of the money, we will have nothing more to say about it and we will just do as we are told -- we will be moving on," Dolan said. "The resolution is completely in his discretion."

He deserves less than nothing.

Posted by Rich:

He deserves less than nothing.

Bingo. He didn't do anything to deserve money. (Nor does Cablevision deserve money but that's a separate issue.)

insisting instead that Dolan agree to waive and/or trade a half-dozen players whose contracts totaled $180 million.

quick, get your calculators out!

i'm thinking steph ($59m), steve ($48m), jerome ($24m), jalen ($17m), mo ($10m), and nate ($7m). possibly q ($33m) instead of mo? the numbers don't work perfectly (as per hoopshype).

I think Brown will get most or all of his contract. I have not read or seen it reported anywhere that the media policy was written into his contract. I think you can argue that Brown tried to sabotage Thomas but I do not think that there is anyway to prove this. I think this case compares to trying to send someone to jail for 10 years for driving 10 miles over the speed limit. I continue to be amazed that Dolan thumbs his nose at the legal system for Thomas. This case and Anucha are both going to go against the Knicks in my opinion.