Stephen A. Smith | Sixers can take cue from Knicks

By Stephen A. Smith

Inquirer Columnist


About 90 miles up the New Jersey Turnpike, through the Lincoln Tunnel and a couple of avenues more familiar to Philadelphians than they are willing to admit, lies Madison Square Garden - home of the New York Knicks, Isiah Thomas, and a recipe for progress the 76ers would be wise to follow.

The playoffs may have ended much sooner than the Knicks had hoped for on Sunday night after they were swept by the Nets. Kenyon Martin, Jason Kidd, and a few studs the Knicks simply don't have at their disposal ensured such an outcome. But let this much be said:

At least the Knicks played four postseason games this April.

There were no reservations for Secaucus, N.J., and the NBA's draft lottery months in advance. No cries or howls for the exodus of a boss who should not be presiding over the franchise in the first place. No polls debating a star's twilight's last gleaming.

Burdened with a league-high $85 million payroll, perpetual losing, and near mutiny from fans, paying customers and, arguably, the league itself, MSG president Steve Mills put out the call to Thomas. The Hall of Fame player, exiled from Indiana just months earlier as the Pacers' coach, has not developed whiplash from looking back.

"When Steve and [MSG chairman] James L. Dolan made the call for me to come, I knew what challenges were ahead, but I couldn't turn it down," Thomas said. "I knew the salary-cap situation. The players that were on this roster. The losing, the lessening fan support, the feeling that this was a franchise heading down the wrong path. I knew I had to be creative to turn this thing around.

"In life, there are always reasons for why something can't work. But there are always reasons why something can. Most times, people who fail in life are usually the ones who seem as if they're scouring the earth to find obstacles instead of the solutions to overcoming them. I don't. That doesn't mean I'll always succeed."

Thomas did this season. The Sixers didn't. And that is where Philadelphia's quest for resurrection must begin.

Allen Iverson, with shaky knee and questionable enthusiasm, is scheduled to be paid $14.6 million this season. His salary combined with the "Big Dog" Glenn Robinson's $12.1 million suffocates the Sixers' salary cap. Jim O'Brien may be the new coach in town, blessed with qualified assistants, a thirsty city, and no ties to this year of acrimony. But he's not going to accomplish anything without president Billy King's assistance.

It's King, the president with a 33-49 record on his watch, who has to find a sucker to take the malignant Robinson off this roster; who might decide to get rid of Aaron McKie; who could unload an aging Derrick Coleman and a demoralized Eric Snow. With a payroll set to exceed the salary cap by about $20 million next season, some consultation wouldn't hurt.

King doesn't need to ask Thomas anything. Just take notes.

Eight days after taking over on Dec. 22, Thomas acquired guard Moochie Norris in a trade for Clarence Weatherspoon. Then on Jan. 5, he pulled off one of the biggest deals in Knicks history, acquiring Brooklyn native Stephon Marbury in a three-team, eight-player trade.

A new coach, Lenny Wilkens, arrived on Jan. 15. Forward Tim Thomas and center Nazr Mohammed came in a trade on Feb. 15. All told, a multitude of transactions - inside of two months on the job - nullified any salary-cap concerns, any disinterest in the franchise, any questions about whether hope and expectations had evaporated forever.

"I'm in a position where Mr. Dolan looks to me to sort of discover whatever talent exists out there for the kind of task we're faced with as an organization, and that is why I turned to Isiah," said Mills, 43, recognized as one of the premier African American business executives in America. "We knew a change needed to be made, that we were in New York, and that it needed to be made immediately. The circumstances were difficult, but Isiah's history, his resume, told us he was up for the challenge."

More lies ahead.

Will Thomas go after Kobe Bryant, or come calling for Iverson? Will he try to maneuver a three-way deal for either, or just go after Tracy McGrady?

"I'm going to do something, I can tell you that," Thomas said, defiantly. "We're after a championship. That should be everybody's goal."

Including the Sixers. Despite evidence to the contrary.


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