THIS THREAD WAS ABOUT zEKE AND Brendan malone relationship


The feuding friends
One word describes the Isiah Thomas, Brendan Malone relationship: Bizarre

MICHAEL CLARKSON

It is one of the lasting images of Toronto Raptors history: rookie head coach Brendan Malone raising his arm triumphantly to a record crowd of 36,131 in the SkyDome after the Raptors had upset Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.

That was on March 24, 1996. Few people knew, however, that as Malone took in the cheers of the crowd his future was being undermined by his general manager Isiah Thomas.

As the Raptors were warming up for their very next game, Thomas walked up to reporters and asked if they felt the team was trying to win too quickly in its first season.

A month later, Malone was out of a job, forced out by Thomas for "philosophical differences," even though Malone had squeezed every ounce of talent out of the inaugural Raptors and led them to a 21-61 record, just one win short of the modern-day expansion record.

It was the second "bloody" round of what has become a soap opera: the love-hate relationship between two NBA veterans who started together with the Detroit Pistons in 1988 and won two NBA championships with Thomas as the star point guard and Malone his assistant coach.

The latest round came on Wednesday when Thomas, the newly-appointed president of the New York Knicks, fired Malone as an assistant, along with head coach Don Chaney, and hired former Raptors head coach Lenny Wilkens.

"Sports are a bloody business," Thomas deadpanned while making the announcements.

If that is true, then Malone must feel like an abattoir resident — he has been fired twice by Thomas and once, while both were with the Pistons, was choked by a frustrated Thomas while sitting on the bench.

And yet, the two men say they have admiration for one another.

Certainly, Thomas respects Malone's talent. In 1996, just one week after firing him as head coach in Toronto, Thomas offered Malone a front-office job. Malone turned it down.

Then, when Thomas became head coach of the Indiana Pacers in 2000, he hired Malone as his lead assistant for three years. Malone left that job for the Knicks last May, reportedly because he did not like the Indiana coaching environment, although he will not comment.

"We've had a bizarre relationship," Malone told the Star yesterday. "Isiah and I have been friends and yet this is a business and you can never take anything for granted. But I was disappointed in the way he let me go (on Wednesday). When he didn't mention me in the press conference, I felt it was disrespect. I guess it was because Don Chaney and I had a good relationship; I got right in the middle of the problem."

Around the NBA, Thomas is known as generous and at the same time ruthless with those he respects. Some insiders say he hired hall of famer Wilkens only as interim coach and will take over the coaching reigns himself when the Knicks become more competitive.

Just prior to his firing, Malone told the Star he respects Thomas "and I guess he respects my knowledge and work ethic. He's the best competitor and leader I've been around. I did not like what happened in Toronto and I think he recognized that. Now, getting fired as a coach himself (after last season with the Pacers), he realized the situation I was in."

If Thomas did have such compassion after being fired by Larry Bird in Indiana, he apparently isn't showing it — although he showered Malone with praise just prior to the Knicks shakeup this week.

"I have a great relationship with Brendan," Thomas said last month when many people thought he would appoint Malone as interim head coach to replace Chaney.

"He's been a mentor, a friend and a coach to me. He's also someone that I not only hired but I had to fire. Throughout the good times, we understand the business of basketball. This is a tough business. He'll always be a friend to me. His family and my family are extremely close. He's someone I can depend and rely on."

Malone, who is now seeking another assistant's job, carefully chose his words yesterday as he talked about Thomas, perhaps because his son Michael was kept on as an assistant with the Knicks.

"I would like to work again right away, but it would have to be the right environment."

Probably the unkindest cut of all was in Toronto, where Thomas forced Malone out because the GM wanted to develop young players slowly and get high draft picks, while Malone wanted to win right away for the fans. "I remember a man taking his son into the arena. I knew he had to spend a lot of money and I felt we were cheating them if we didn't try to win."

The differences between coach and GM were played out in the media before Malone's 1996 sacking and that may be one reason why Malone has had only one head coaching interview (with Milwaukee in 1996) over the past eight years.

It's possible, he says, that general managers have shut him out, fearing that he might clash with the front office.

Malone is regarded as one of the best assistants in the NBA with a passion for fundamentals and details, but he misses his one year of head coaching.

"As a head coach, you're like an artist with a blank canvas and you create what you want to create," he said. "As an assistant, you make suggestions, but they have to be within the framework of how the head coach wants to play the game. I loved making the decisions, and the rush, the excitement."

But on Wednesday night, Malone realized that work was not the top priority in his life.

That night, his sister-in-law died after suffering a stroke in Colorado. And, as his wife Maureen drove him home, just 30 minutes after his firing at Madison Square Garden, their car was rear-ended. Damage was serious and three people in the Malone vehicle suffered minor injuries, but not their 18-month-old grandson, Thomas.

"After we got out to check on the other driver, my grandson waved to me and I waved back," Malone said. "You realize in those moments that family is the most important thing. You can always lose a job."