By Stephen Florival

Today’s New York Knicks bring disgrace to the rich tradition and great pride the Knicks once and still embodied to many New York basketball fans.

New Yorkers may not recognize the basketball team that currently plays in 4 Penn Plaza, Madison Square Garden. However, it is indeed the same New York Knicks team they love, just with a little twist courtesy of Isiah Thomas. The same Knicks which once featured the lovable of cast characters who were tough, high character players now feature aging veterans and overpaid players cashing in on one career year or unfulfilled potential. New York was once the stop for players seeking a championship caliber team instead it is now a rest stop for players to pick up max contracts and under perform. While Isiah did inherit an undesirable roster soon after becoming head President of Basketball Operations with the Knicks, he has compounded on many of those woes. Not only did Isiah blemish the Knicks image on the court in his tenure, he tarnished it far worst off the court.

On Oct. 2 a jury granted Anucha Browne Sanders 11.6 million dollars for her claims against Thomas and Madison Square Garden. Sanders accused Thomas of sexual harassment charges and wrongfully firing her for complaining. Madison Square Garden was found liable, however Thomas was found not liable for any of the charges. During this process Thomas was portrayed as a verbal bully creating a hostile work environment. As the Knicks began training camp from Charleston, South Carolina, their head coach was over 750 miles away in a lower Manhattan courthouse. Thomas afterwards would travel back to camp via a Cablevision private plane courtesy of owner James Dolan. Isiah would be subtle in his transition from suit and tie to basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Thomas has said he did not feel the case would take away from his focus towards the Knicks. What the legal case did however was create a villainous image of Thomas, and Madison Square Garden. Sanders painted the atmosphere around the Knicks as boys will be boy’s mentality. When stories of Stephon Marbury sleeping with Garden interns began to pop up, you can’t help but wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes. Not only did Sanders raise question about the image of Thomas but Isiah provided some tell tale signs of his own. Isiah Thomas made comments which accurately portray him as someone fit to lead the currently constructed Knicks team. Thomas felt that there was a difference between a Caucasian man and African American man when labeling a woman as a derogatory term which refers to a female dog. Many phases of this embarrassing plot could have been avoided if owner James Dolan had his way and Sanders accepted his settlement offer of $300,000.

New York fans want a competitor in professional sports but the current collection of Knicks talent resembles more of a parody of the NBA. Isiah’s approach of bringing big name players and spending money has not been as very unsuccessful. The Knicks boast the highest payroll at just over 88 million. The moves which separate Isiah to some as a mastermind hired to destroy the Knicks immediately followed his hiring. Isiah produced a massive over haul of the roster. By year one more than half the roster had been changed for his liking. High priced players such as Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry and Jerome James found their way to New York. Thomas would pay Center Jerome James a 5 year deal worth 35 million dollars off of an impressive playoff series for Seattle. James was a career backup who had many concerns, including durability. Thomas later made acquisitions such as Malik Rose and Maurice Taylor, both backup power forwards who made upwards of 8 million dollars with multiple years remaining. Thomas was also highly criticized for the acquisition of Point Guard Steve Francis from the Orlando Magic. Thomas paired away a young player with solid potential in Trevor Ariza and Combo Guard Penny Hardaway who had a 15 million dollar deal which expired at the end of the season. In return the Knicks received Francis who had a maximum money contract with four years remaining. It was unknown what the combination of Stephon Marbury and Steve Francs would do to a Knick team filled with shoot first players. Francis and Marbury were both guards who played similar styles of basketball which required the ball. After two seasons in the big apple where Francis performance was notated with a role off the bench, Thomas bought out the remaining two years on Francis contract.

For Knicks fans everywhere they wonder if the glory days of Knicks basketball will ever return. As they watch ESPN classic games which included clutch performances but Walt Clyde Frazier in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals or fierce battles between Michael Jordan’s Bulls and the Patrick Ewing led Knicks, they can only question if their beloved Knickerbockers will ever be relevant once again in the National Basketball Association.