a friend of mine just read me an excerpt from keith glass' book "taking shots".

keith glass is joe glass' son. and joe glass is lb's agent.

this is basically what he said about the buyout: stern was not going to rule in favor of the knicks b/c it would set a precedent in breaking guaranteed contracts. but if there was no buyout, then the knicks were going to enforce their "no coaching" rule for lb whereby he wouldn't be able to coach again for the duration of his deal. so lb and the knicks agreed at the $18.5 mil # so he could coach again and recoup the remaining dollars on his next coaching contract.

nothing earth shattering or groundbreaking but it's confirmation from a person close to the situation.

keith glass did also say that lb did not do a good job as coach last season but it was in no way bad enough to be fired with "just cause."