Why Jimmy?

At this point, I dont want to know the reason.  I don’t care to hear the misguided reasoning of some unnamed worker in MSG who has “knowledge of the situation”  trying to calm the nerves of Knick fans who have waited far too long for this offseason to come, only to have their hearts broken again.

Jordan in the 90’s.  Dolan in the 2000’s.

As if this team has no other corner of the earth to find a consultant, the New York Knicks went back to a very dark past in digging up Isiah Thomas.  Yes, that guy.  This is not a joke, nor is this some kind of rumor.  It’s happened folks and let’s be real about one thing: he’s staying.

When James Dolan finally let his sports celebrity crush leave the Knicks, it was because he had to let him go.  There was no other choice.  But since that day, you just knew that like some star crossed lover, he was always holding on to the chance that someday they would be reunited.

What’s even better about this, is how Knick fans found out: not through some press release stating that, no, through the rumor mill and when they were cornered about it in the press, they fessed up like a kid caught in a candy jar.  They tried to sneak him in through the back door but the security found them.

I genuinely feel wrong bad mouthing Isiah the way I do sometimes, but in the pantheon of bad decision makers, he has his own wing.  He can do no right, because there’s just too many wrongs in that book for him to have room for the good to be on display.

Its all so sneaky and conniving that there are rumors insisting that its a scary proposition that will only get worse.  Imagine, if he can talk his way back into the good graces of the folks in Madison Square Garden, how much higher can he ascend?  Everyone in MSG is saying the right thing, because they don’t want to admit to what they really think:  Isiah has a legit amount of influence over the decision making and his re-entry into that fold comes at a peculiar time when the Knicks face rampant rumors about Donnie Walsh’s health and his potential successor.

Call it paranoia, but there’s legitimate fear that if Isiah Thomas does come back as a consultant, its proof that James Dolan is absolutely clueless about how to run the team he owns.  Rich people are supposed to be smart, I mean they got rich somehow right?  But James Dolan being the son of a rich guy makes perfect sense.  Spoiled.  Entitled.  Hard headed.  Stubborn.  He thinks that just because his father was a success, he is one too.

Sorry Jimmy, it doesn’t work that way.

When I heard about this on the Mike Francesa show, I was shocked to say the least.  Shocked more so that James Dolan was falling for the same trick.  Its like watching one of those episodes of Jerry Springer where a guy comes on, admits to his girl that he’s cheated.  She meets the girl.  They fight.  After the commercial the girl cries, asking why the guy did this to her.  Then there’s another fight.  Then the girl inexplicably comes back to the guy and they leave happily ever after.

Have Isiah and Dolan passed the make up stage?  Are they leaving the show back together?  It must be that way, because how else to explain it?  Dolan’s firing of Isiah and hiring of Donnie Walsh was met with universal praise but Dolan had planted the seed of Isiah’s return a long time ago.

His recruiting skills and his influence over the younger players were so great that word leaked that the Knicks sent Isiah Thomas to speak to Lebron on their behalf.  In fact, reports surfaced recently that he was close to signing a deal with the Knicks before ultimately changing his mind to play with his friends in Miami and Isiah’s presence being a big reason why he would choose the Knicks.  I mean that should’ve been sign number one that Lebron just didn’t get it.  But that’s a topic for another day.

Thomas’ basketball exploits are well laid out.  The guy was one of the best, if not best point guards ever.  Top 50 player of all time and fiercest competitors ever.  But as an executive, one can make the argument that great players should never be trusted to handle the duties of a talent evaluator.  His biggest drafting tool is in finding complementary role players to fill a roster.  He usually strikes out on making deals for starters, but he sure can draft the heck out of a bench.

The Knicks in general don’t need him right now.  They are moving in the right direction.  They fell so far under the cap thanks to Donnie’s wheeling and dealing that they set themselves up for not just this summer, but the next two as well.  They are under the cap enough to pick up a star player in 2011 (Melo anyone?) and in 2012 (CP3 or Deron Williams).  They absolutely stole Anthony Randolph from the Golden State Warriors while shipping David Lee (who is not worth the contract he got from them).  They have filled out their bench nicely and even have a respectable team.  One that you can safely bet can be an 8th seed in a suddenly top heavy Eastern Conference.

They have moved on from the negativity that surrounded the Isiah Thomas era.  Stephon Marbury is in China playing ball.  Eddy Curry’s fat carcass has only a year left to torment us.  Say hi to Gordon Heyward (the Hoosiers guy from Butler), the guy the Jazz picked in the slot the Knicks were supposed to pick at.  Anuch Brown Sanders is sitting on some beach chair toasting to herself.

All that’s gone, and despite striking out on Lebron, there’s a sense that the Knicks are on the right track.

So why now?  Why do this to a loyal fan base who stayed true believing we’d be given a King and ended with a one legged power forward who’s about one poke in the eye away from being blind?  Why do this to a proud city that has done nothing but support them through all of this on the belief that it was a necessary evil to endure?

While the questions remain asked, there is no response.  Because nothing about this makes sense.  James Dolan can’t possibly give you enough of a reason to do something like this.  Something that can potential disillusion even the most die hard of fans.  Its a move that needs, no forget that, REQUIRES an explanation.  At some point, the Knicks can’t possibly believe that we’re stupid enough to go with whatever they say.

But here we are, awake in August as if we went back in time to 2003.  Isiah Thomas in Madison Square.  Ready to trade away future draft picks for the chance to get a mediocre talent.  Let’s be real.  The Knicks are going backwards with this move.  Nothing about this screams progress unless Isiah has completely changed and righted the ship.

But that would be too tough to think that could happen.  Knicks fans don’t deserve this.  At this point, what more can be said about an owner who’s completely lost touch with reality and what the reality brings with re-hiring Isiah Thomas for any position.  I don’t blame Isiah for this mess, I blame the guy that Knicks fans should’ve been booing from the get go, James Dolan.  He’s not only ruined the Knicks, he takes on cable networks, blacks them out on his service provider and then creates a frustrated customer base in its wake.  Yes, I’m blaming that on him as well.

This nightmare won’t end well Knicks fans.  Even if you believe I’m blowing this out of proportion, think about it this way: if you know a stove is hot and you touch it once and it burns you severely, how dumb do you look if you keep burning yourself?  At some point, the pity that people had over the punishment for your curiosity will wear off and it will turn into frustration and anger.  I can sense Knicks fans slowly turning.

At some point Dolan will find it hard to walk the streets of NYC without needing to hide for cover.  One nightmare only deserves another, don’t you think?