Is there no end to this indecency?

By John Gottlieb
The Phanatic Magazine

Yesterday brought a fitting end to one of the ugliest incidents in Knickerbockers’ history.

It’s too bad that I’m not talking about the long overdue firing of Isiah Thomas, but the sweeping under the rug of the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former employee Anucha Brown Sanders.

You had to know that David Stern was just stewing as this was played out on the grandest stage of them all. We all heard the comments about the lack of moral fiber in the front offices down at Madison Square Garden, but quietly he must have been inside Jimmy Dolan’s ear, saying “enough is enough” and “make this go away…quickly.”

There was no way the commish was going to sit there and let this take away from the NBA season. It’s one thing to be fighting your dirty laundry during the offseason but not during the campaign…no matter how bad the Knicks are.

So when all is said and done we know that:

• Anucha Brown Sanders is the new recipient of around $11 million


• Stephon Marbury, no matter what kind of bad luck he’s having, is a womanizing misogynist pig, and will still never win a playoff series. (Not like the Knicks will get back to one.)


• James Dolan’s loyalty will eventually lead this historical franchise to its darkest days.


• And, Isiah must have dirt on someone pretty good to still be collecting a paycheck.

This is a team that is tied for the fifth worst record in the Association, and is only a half-game out of the fourth-worst record. They have lost 13 of their last 17 contests; their last eight losses have all been by double-digits, including one of the worst performances ever on the NBA hardwood in a 104-59 shellacking to Boston; Marbury was benched, then he was playing, and then he was back to starting before his father passed; Eddy Curry isn’t getting any better; and the only guys you can trust are Jamal Crawford, David Lee, and Renaldo Balkman. Zack Randolph was a good addition but he can be a little scatterbrained and goes into long funks when he’s not hitting his shots.

And yet Dolan just came out and said Isiah was safe for the rest of the season.

Hey Jim, it’s okay to fire him now. The trial and appeal process are over and you’re out another $11 mil. Go ahead, cut the cord.

What has to happen before Thomas is given the axe? He took his seat at the head of the table of the prominent list for the worst executive in sports once Billy King was terminated last week.

Everything Isiah touches wilts to dust…just ask the CBA. Zeke is just 11-29, including two two-game winning streaks, since getting his contract extension (I mean multi-year contract extension on March 12).

"The grit that you need and the determination you need to win and build a championship team, you've got to have some tough skin," said Thomas after last night’s 99-89 loss to Dallas at the Garden. "Your skin has to get thicker every day, not thinner.”

Building a championship? Who’s building a championship? It’s certainly not the Knicks. Maybe they are building for a title in Bizarro World.

The fans have gotten tired of this act and are ready to waive goodbye to Thomas, Steve Mills and Jimmy too if he doesn’t turn this thing around and soon.

However, it’s not so easy to get rid of an owner, especially one that won’t get rid of his Grim Reaper of a coach.

Before exerting his feebleness on the sidelines he did the same thing in the front office, hiring five coaches, including himself, since late 2003.

Ever since roaming the court he’s added players like Moochie Norris, John Amaechi, Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, Cezary Trybanksi, Tim Thomas, Nazr Mohammed, Jamal Crawford, Jerome Williams, Maurice Taylor, Malik Rose, Quentin Richardson, the draft rights to guard Nate Robinson, Jerome James, Eddy Curry, Antonio Davis, Steve Francis, Jared Jeffries, Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, Fred Jones, and Jared Jordan.

If you have an overpaid, good-for-nothing player then give Isiah a call…he’ll probably give you a whole heck of a lot for a waste of space making tens of millions.

Isiah has single-handedly crippled this team. The Knicks have the second-highest payroll and two (Marbury and Randolph) of the top 30 paid players in the league and that has bought them one playoff birth and zero playoff wins since Zeke took over.

The sad part is these drubs never seem to go anywhere. They are saddled on the Knicks forever. The only players on the current roster without a contract for next season are Dan Dickau (who was released earlier) Fred Jones, and Randolph Morris. Everyone else is back for another year of cellar-dwelling.

Quick, someone put a bullet in the franchise and put it out of misery. How much longer will we have to deal with this?

Jimmy, it’s too late for Isiah, but save yourself for god’s sake.

SOS, SOS, SOS!