One of the most remarkable feats in recent sports is that Isiah Thomas keeps getting hired to lead NBA basketball teams. This when the fact is that Thomas has screwed up three NBA franchises and an entire basketball league.
I understand why he got his first chance with the Toronto Raptors in 1994. The NBA more than any league believes former great players can either create or coach great teams. Call it the Jerry West factor, whose namesake became the greatest general manager in NBA history building after an illustrious playing career.
So Thomas became part owner and vice president of the expansion franchise, and did an OK job. He drafts Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby and Tracy McGrady, and makes a draft-day trade for Vince Carter. But he also drafted Jonathan Bender with the fifth pick out of high school over Rip Hamilton, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, and Wally Szczerbiak. He also drafted first-rounder Alex Radojevic, who would only play three games for the Raptors. He traded Stoudamire and Camby for spare parts. He then bailed ship to be a commentator on NBC.
Next, he bought the struggling CBA, the nation's top minor basketball league, and told every owner to spend a lot of money in promotions. He promised them national sponsors, a national TV contract and international expansion.
So what happened? Within two years the league was bankrupt and had to close operations for a year. Thomas only was able to get 14 games on TV for and only got two major sponsors. And he abandoned loyal local sponsors in small cities like Yakima, Wash., and Rockford, Ill. He sold the league to coach the Indiana Pacers and screwed owners out a lot of money.
As coach of the Pacers, he took very talented teams in a depleted Eastern Conference and underachieved all three years he coached. Anyone who knew anything about basketball saw how badly Thomas coached. He never took out struggling players while he kept his best options on the bench.
A team that was in the NBA finals the year before never advanced past the first round during his tenure. When he was fired by Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle took over and promptly led the team to 60 wins and the Eastern Conference finals.
So by now everyone knows Thomas is a screw up in both managerial and coaching spheres. No one else would give him a chance, right?
Wrong, of course. The New York Knicks just hired him to be president.
The Knicks first hired Scott Layden, who screwed up the Knicks, and then Thomas, who will keep screwing them up. That's like finding out you had testicular cancer and now its gone, but now you found out you have prostate cancer.
Thomas started making idiotic moves like acquiring point guard Jamal Crawford (when he already has Stephon Marbury) and Eddy Curry (and his height and weight problems). And when he had a chance to get rid of Alan Houston and his huge contract, Thomas kept him.
Thomas once wrote a book called "The Fundamentals: 8 Plays for Winning the Games of Business and Life." But you wouldn't buy a book by Napoleon on how to invade Russia or Ben Affleck on how to do comedy. So why oh why would you buy his?
Despite that Thomas made a smart move this summer by hiring Larry Brown, the Knicks have no chance of even being a contender until Thomas is gone. He is a joke as a coach and as a leader of a franchise.
