Why in the hell is Isiah Thomas still coaching in the NBA?
Over the past several years, the old axiom of “Innocent until proven guilty” has acquired another leg - no the saying appears to be “Innocent until proven guilty, and when guilty, blame the jury and continue to profess your innocence.”
Such is the tact Isiah Thomas and the New York Knocks are taking after losing a sexual harassment and retaliation case to former Knicks’ employee Anucha Browne Sanders. After the jury came out with its decision, Thomas said:
“I’m innocent, I’m very innocent, and I did not do the things she has accused me in this courtroom of doing. I’m extremely disappointed that the jury did not see the facts in this case.”
And yesterday, after announcing an $11.5 million settlement with Browne, here’s what Thomas’ bosses at Madison Square Garden had to say:
“The outcome was a travesty of justice, and we vehemently disagree with the jury’s decision, however, at the strong request of (the NBA commissioner) and in the interest of focusing on basketball, we can all agree that it is time for us to move on and put this issue behind us.”
No matter how nice it would be for the Knicks to put this whole episode to rest, the simple truth is this: A jury found that Thomas did sexually harass Browne. Even Thomas admitted to calling her names and acting inappropriately. But he and the Knicks don’t care about any of that. And obviously neither does the NBA.
That Thomas is a terrible coach and NBA executive should go without saying. His decisions in signing and trading for players have been embarrassing, and the Knicks are currently ranked as the third-worst team in the NBA by ESPN.
But that’s neither here nor there. If Knicks’ management don’t care how poorly the team has been run, that’s their prerogative. But their handling of the Browne suit has been monstrously bad, flat-out bordering on evil.
Just because the Knicks, Thomas and the NBA have decided that the opinions of juries and the complaints of victims are irrelevant, doesn’t mean it’s true. And just because the media hates dwelling on the predatory behavior of male athletes doesn’t mean it’s time to sweep all this under the carpet.
It’s time for Isiah Thomas to be fired. And the entire management of MSG needs to follow him out the door.
–WKW
December 13th, 2007 at 11:16 am
He was a great player. He is a terrible coach. He also trashed the CBA, which was a pretty good league until its president Isaiah Thomas decided it could not compete with the NBADL.
And from what I understand, behind the shit eating grin of his is a pretty crappy human being.