Apparently the New York Knickerbockers are gluttons for pain. Word is going around that the team has officially hired their former president/head coach, and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas to a position as a consultant. He'll retain his coaching job at Florida International, where in his first season, he led the team to an unremarkable 7-25 record.
Thomas' main role with the Knicks will be player recruitment. To put it a bit more plainly, bringing Carmelo Anthony's free-agent-to-be butt to New York. My guess is that after missing their mark during the Summer of Lebron, they're doing everything in their power to make sure they don't miss out again.
Please forgive Knick fans if they don't jump in the air with excitement. It wasn't long ago at all that the Thomas-led Knicks were the laughingstock of the league. From 2003-08, Thomas managed to do the following: compile a record of 151-259, trade away just about every draft pick for average-to-way-below-average players (see Curry, Eddie; James, Jerome; Jeffries, Jared), simultaneously record the highest payroll and the second-worst record in the league in 2005-06, and there was also this little sexual harassment thing that cost the team another $12 million.
But hey, it's "Zeke". The real Teflon Don. Rick Ross ain't got nothing on him.
Regardless, I have to give him his credit. The man has more lives than a Grand Theft Auto character (with cheat codes). Players in the league still have a lot of respect for him (Stephon Marbury doesn't, but he's playing in China). If he is able to play an instrumental role in getting Carmelo to New York, maybe it was worth all the hell he put Knick fans through.
Well, probably not, but it'll be a good start.
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