If there is a reasonable chance Isiah is wanted back here then I would vote yes. I think if he came back I would dump being a fan of this team. I would be very hard to follow. I would just stop watching NBA

Is Isiah Thomas Losing Jim Dolan’s Support?

Isiah Thomas has made it no secret that he still wants to run the Knicks. He said so just last week, in fact, in his wide-ranging interview with ESPN New York. It's a laughable concept, or at least it should be: Isiah damaged not just the Knicks' on-court product but the image of the whole organization, and the team eventually responded by replacing him as president. And the story would end there, if not for Jim Dolan.

For whatever reason, Dolan's always had a soft spot for Thomas, and his tenure as president (and as head coach) did nothing to change that. In fact, Thomas would be working for Dolan's Knicks right now as a consultant, if not for conflict-of-interest concerns. (He's still head coach at Florida International, after all.) Said Dolan in a statement at the time: "He will always have strong ties to me and the team." So when Thomas said he wanted to work for the Knicks again, it couldn't be totally brushed aside by saying "Who in his right mind would hire him back?" Because that man is Dolan.

Or is it? Adrian Wojnarowski reports that "Thomas is fading fast with Dolan" now that the Knicks are under investigation for alleged improper draft workouts that started during Thomas's regime. Writes Wojnarowski:

Thomas keeps talking about turning down NBA jobs, but these are make-believe offers. No one has offered him a job, and he's gone to great lengths to make sure no one ever will. Thomas isn't delusional, but desperate. He's speaking to a one-man audience — Knicks owner Jim Dolan.

Only now, it appears Thomas is losing Dolan, too. Dolan has come to understand the severity of the NBA's investigation into the Knicks after Yahoo! Sports reported apparent illegal draft workouts under Thomas' regime, sources say. And Dolan's been livid over it. Rodney Heard, the Knicks scout at the center of the investigation, was Thomas' guy all the way, and Heard is still involved with Thomas' Florida International University program.

That investigation could result in fines and forfeiture of draft picks. And, according to Wojnarowski, "league sources say any uncovering of Thomas' possible complicity in potential violations could result in a suspension to be tacked onto his future return to the NBA." Of course, without Dolan's support, a return to the NBA seems unlikely. After all the Knicks have been through with Isiah — after Anucha Browne Sanders and the off-court trouble; after, oh, let's say Jerome James and all of the basketball-related debacles — it's Rodney Heard who may finally cause Thomas to fall out of favor with Dolan. Maybe Isiah isn't immortal after all.

scoshin wrote:I get the feeling Stern won't do that though. They may fine the Knicks, MAAAYBE take away a 2nd rounder...but 1st round picks? We hardly have any until 2013, and Stern knows that the Knicks are on the up after a decade of losing, and wouldn't want to knock them right down.

It all depends on what side of the bed Stern's wakes up on. No one can say what he will do the world is whimsical at best.

Dude has made a lot of cash but has made a mockery of himself as a person. If character defines a person, IT has shown who he is as a person several times over here. He wont be a Knick again and a a few days after the article he gave saying he was waiting to come back--he knows full well right about now.

Vmart wrote:

scoshin wrote:I get the feeling Stern won't do that though. They may fine the Knicks, MAAAYBE take away a 2nd rounder...but 1st round picks? We hardly have any until 2013, and Stern knows that the Knicks are on the up after a decade of losing, and wouldn't want to knock them right down.

It all depends on what side of the bed Stern's wakes up on. No one can say what he will do the world is whimsical at best.

Seriously. He may not want to appear to be going easy on the Knicks and instead of a reasonable punishment he may write a whole new book to throw at them.

Bippity10 wrote:Everywhere he goes, something shady happens. Now all of a sudden some top recruits are going to FIU. Could be a result of guys just wanting to play for one of the greatest PG's of all time. But if I was an athletic director at FIU I would be quaking a little in my boots.

I dont disagree with this but the same can be said about Calipari and a host of others. Umass and Memphis weren't exactly CBB hotbeds until he got thier.