When talking "Developments difficult to see coming"...
Isiah Thomas being removed of his coaching duties by the Knicks would likely not rank in top 100,000.
I'm not sure whether it was the 56-108 record accumulated. Or the bazillion dollar payroll that's produced more players bought out (see Rose, Jalen), dead weight (see James, Jerome), ill-matched (see Curry, Eddy/Randolph, Zach), or redundant (see roster, entire) than useful. Or the sexual harassment lawsuit. Or the drama with Starbury. Or the fact that he's the only person who could make our current president look popular in New York by comparison. But whichever of the oodles of reasons new Knicks Prez (and Zeke's former Pacers boss) Donnie Walsh decided to cite, it was enough to show Thomas the door.
Oddly enough, Thomas will remain on the Knicks payroll in a title-free role offering "input" to Walsh. I guess every once in a while, outside advice is helpful when deciding between chicken salad or a burger for lunch.
By the way, for those with ESPN Insider, here's a breakdown of the Isiah era rosters. Few things in life tend to shock me. This is beyond shocking.
AK
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ahem...
Posted by: Charles | April 18, 2008 at 04:18 PM
so whats the over and under of posts it takes before someone posts these shocking rosters?
im going with 20
Posted by: joninjapan(incanada) | April 18, 2008 at 04:27 PM
Who cares about Isiah?
I want to know how the Lakers plan on slowing down Carmelo and A.I.
Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | April 18, 2008 at 04:34 PM
yea. I don't have this special insider pass, and I don't want one. so someone please post it.
Posted by: ajax | April 18, 2008 at 04:35 PM
i feel kind of bad for isiah as a human, in the sense that he failures are so expounding by coaching in new york, where there's more attention than even here in LA. In NYC, your public failures are treated as if you were a muderer, despite being in the relatively insignificant world of sports. That being said, my guess is Mark Jackson is the next head coach of the Knicks, and call me crazy, but if Kobe doesn't win a title in the next two years - and for some reason the team takes an unexpexted step backwords, Kobe will end his career in New York.
Posted by: 10milliondollarzen | April 18, 2008 at 04:49 PM
Note to all-
I do have insider, and I'm not sure I want to post it- it's obscenely large as an article.
But just to let y'all know-
It's basically a rundown of every single draft pick, trade, waiver, or hiring Isiah has made in his tenure as GM, and reflections and grades for each. Pretty interesting stuff, though. I may post it later if I can whittle it down.
Posted by: Jeff | April 18, 2008 at 04:59 PM
Heads up everyone, Fish's 0.4 game is on ESPN CLASSIC!
Posted by: Xodus | April 18, 2008 at 05:02 PM
Jeff,
Yeah, I'd prefer you didn't cut and paste it (sorry to all the Insider-free bloggers). The extreme length would actually make the thread fairly annoying. But like you said, it's a run down of Thomas' wheeling and dealing. Some shockingly terrible decisions.
AK
Posted by: Andrew Kamenetzky | April 18, 2008 at 05:04 PM
A little pre-playoffs hype (or in this case, don't get too hyped) video is up on the lakers home page as well as video interviews from today's practice.
Posted by: lakers_sth | April 18, 2008 at 05:19 PM
I might not be leaving the house this weekend ... Suns/SA and Dallas/NO on Saturday
Lakers on Sunday ...
Are you kidding me -- this is going to be epic!
---
Mark Jackson will be inheriting what’s called a no lose proposition. If he revives the Knicks he's a miracle worker, but if he can't, It's not his fault and will get work elsewhere.
I love those situations and personally seek them out.
Posted by: HmrHed | April 18, 2008 at 05:22 PM
Too bad. I wish he stayed on as coach of the Knicks forever.
I hate the Knicks.
GO LAKERS!
Posted by: Jon K. | April 18, 2008 at 05:38 PM
Isiah Thomas'case proves to us one thing, business man doesn't know about NBA no matter how rich they are, a NBA good player won't become good GM or head coach certainly.
Posted by: bluesky | April 18, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Can you at least paste a couple of those "bad decisions" so we can laugh about it?
Posted by: Teej | April 19, 2008 at 10:57 AM