At least Isiah Thomas isn’t back in the Garden to run the Knicks.
But as the old saying goes, never say never. Never say never, especially when it comes to a couple of old pals like James Dolan and Isiah Thomas.
For now, Thomas is back as part-owner and president of the WNBA Liberty, although it’s always been well known that Thomas never really completely left the Garden. Even after running the Knicks into the ground as team president from 2003-08, he always remained a close friend with Dolan, the Garden chairman, and continued to be Dolan’s most-trusted basketball advisor.
So while this latest move inside the World’s Most Famous Dysfunctional Franchise makes no absolutely sense from a PR standpoint, it’s classic Dolan.
“We’ve agreed that it is time for him to take a lead role with the team as president, and through his ownership interest,’’ Dolan said in a statement announcing Thomas’ hiring. “He’s an excellent judge of talent, and I’m confident that he will put all of his energy and experience into making the Liberty a perennially competitive and successful team.’’
Dolan is loyal to his inner circle and always make sure to take care of the chosen few. He’s already brought back Steve Mills, who was also part of the horrific Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment scandal that brought Thomas down in his first official stint at MSG.
Once Thomas’s boss, Mills now works under team president Phil Jackson.
Now, Isiah has returned, officially, although he’s busy telling everyone he has nothing to do with the Knicks. But who do you think Dolan is going to run to the next time he’s looking for a new leader for his NBA team? And that could be sooner than you think.
We’ll see how long Jackson lasts as team president, even with a five-year deal that pays him a record $60 million and goes through 2019. During his first 14 months on the job, the Zen Master has found his first try at building a team to be more than he bargained for. The Knicks won only 17 games this past season, setting a franchise record for losses (65) and were non-competitive in most of their games.
As an exec, Jackson made a series of head-scratching moves that all either backfired or aided and abetted the teams he did business with, including the Mavs and Cavs.
This summer, Jackson will get a top pick in the draft and have $30 million to spend on free agents. So the Knicks can't help but be better next season. But the feeling around the league is that Jackson, nearing 70, likely will look to head back to his Playa Del Rey beachfront home out in Southern California long before his contract expires.
At that point, we can easily see Dolan wasting not a second and going right to Thomas to once again head up the Knicks.
Sure, it makes not a bit of sense. How can an executive who was found guilty of sexual harassment in the workplace and cost Dolan almost $12 million manage to move back into his executive suite?
Simple, Dolan loves him. You notice that Isiah has never found another job in the NBA. Twenty-nine other teams won't hire him, not after he ruined the Knicks with several disastrous trades, a few bone-headed free-agent signings and a multitude of impetuous moves. But he's always got a home in the Garden with Dolan.
Although Dolan conceded in 2013 that Thomas might never be able to work in New York, he went on to admit to the New York Post in a rare sit-down that Thomas deserves a second chance, and raved about his ability at “finding basketball talent.’’
Now, more than ever, the Knicks need to find talent and if there’s someone Dolan implicitly trusts to do just that, it’s Thomas.
It’s as if he never left. After he was fired in 2008, Thomas was quietly brought in by Dolan in July, 2010 in a last-ditch effort to help the Knicks recruit blue chip free agents LeBron James and Amar’e Stoudemire.
In 2011, he instructed Dolan when the owner engineered the Carmelo Anthony trade with the Denver Nuggets. Make no mistake: There was a Thomas-led “shadow government’’ operating in the Garden when Donnie Walsh was ostensibly running the team after being foisted on Dolan by then commissioner David Stern.
Even when Thomas was coaching Florida International University a few years back, Dolan tried to hire him as an official advisor. But at the time, the NBA stepped in and refused to allow the move.
Thomas has always had Dolan under his spell and now he’s only steps away from returning to the job he once had and continues to covet.
You think it’s crazy?
Knicks fans, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Longtime New York columnist Mitch Lawrence continues to write about pro basketball, as he’s done for the last 22 years. His columns for NBCNewYork.com on the Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and the NBA, along with other major sports, will appear twice weekly. Follow him on Twitter
