Knicks fire Brown as coach, make Thomas his replacement

June 22, 2006

AP - Jun 22, 10:44 am EDT

NEW YORK (AP) -- Larry Brown was fired by the New York Knicks on Thursday and replaced as coach by president and general manager Isiah Thomas.

In Brown's one season in New York, the Knicks stumbled to a 23-59 record -- second worst in the NBA and matching the most losses in club history.

Brown endured a miserable season with the Knicks, squabbling with star guard Stephon Marbury and other players and missing three games in April because of illness. He had only one worse season as a coach, when he went 21-61 with the San Antonio Spurs in 1988-89.

His coaching status had been in limbo for months, and reports surfaced in May that owner James Dolan was looking to buy out Brown's contract. It was at about that time that Brown called himself a "dead man walking" because of the uncertainty.

The Hall of Fame coach signed a five-year deal with the Knicks before last season worth a reported $50 million.

Brown, a Brooklyn native, described his hiring last year as a "dream job," and the Knicks hoped his homecoming would lead to a long-awaited return to the playoffs. But despite a league-high payroll of more than $120 million, New York struggled throughout the season.

"No one in our organization is happy with last season and we all accept responsibility for our performance," Thomas said in a statement released by the Knicks. "This has been a difficult time for the entire organization and our fans.

"Larry Brown is a great coach, but for various reasons, bringing him to the Knicks did not turn out the way we had hoped and we wish him the best in the future."

Thomas joined the Knicks as president and GM in December 2003. He was coach of the Indiana Pacers for three seasons through 2002-03, compiling a 131-115 record.

Brown coached the Detroit Pistons to the NBA title in the 2003-04 season. He missed 17 games the following year with the Pistons because of hip replacement surgery. That led to a bladder problem that required surgery in November. He had offseason surgery to address the problem.

"Larry has had a long and storied career. We hired him last summer with the expectation that he would be with the Knicks for a long time," Dolan said. "Sometimes decisions work and sometimes they don't."

As if it was even possible after last year, but to borrow a Jesse-ism, that snowball is continuing to go down the toilet.

_________________
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

James Dolan should be court ordered to take a mental competentcy test. What the f*ck is he thinking? I love it though. This clusterfuck couldn't have happened to a more deserving collection of assholes.

_________________
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

John Paxson is walking around with messy pants today.

This move assures the Bulls of a very high pick next year.

This is going to be one amusing circus next year. Maybe he will see the 4 point gaurd ball hog system doesnt really translate into victories.
.

_________________

I would think that the Knicks will be unloading some of those players before the season starts. It will be interesting to see if they can acquire anything of value in return.

They’d like to, but it’s going to be difficult. The only player on their team with both basketball & contractual value is Channing Frye, and they’ve said over and over again they won’t move him. Otherwise, Jalen Rose has finally produced some value in the sense that he is entering the final year of an insane contract (scheduled to make about $17 mil). That is a guy you could move to a team looking to clear cap space in the ’07 offseason. Unfortunately for New York, those deals typically involve draft picks as well, and the Knicks have given all their picks away. So unless they’re willing to bite the bullet and cut Channing Frye loose, Jalen will be difficult to move.

By the way, the Knicks have the entire salary cap ($50 mil) filled with only 3 players: Starbury, Jalen, and Stevie Franchise. That’s terrible. It’s going to be a long time before they can field a decent squad again. While the Knicks sucking is good for the Bulls currently, it’s not really good for basketball as a whole. Eventually, it’d be nice to see them respectable again.