OPINION

By Sean Deveney

updated 8:23 p.m. ET Oct. 2, 2007

Sean Deveney

Back in December 2003, Isiah Thomas was hired to bring back some measure of respectability to the New York Knicks. The franchise, you surely remember, was a joke, having been utterly mismanaged by then-GM Scott Layden and sitting on a 10-18 record. Layden had established an era of futility with such deals as Allan Houston's $100 million contract, sending Latrell Sprewell away for woebegone Keith Van Horn and trading Nene and Marcus Camby for Antonio McDyess and his bum knee.

When the Knicks hired Thomas, team head honcho James Dolan said, "Isiah is one of the most celebrated figures in the history of the NBA and we believe he is the right person to lead this team into the future. His set of skills and experience will reinvigorate this team to achieve our only goal -- delivering a championship-caliber team to all Knicks fans."

Uh, no. In fact, miraculously, Thomas has done what once seemed impossible: He has sunk the franchise far lower than Layden ever did. The team still stinks, as it did under Layden. But, Tuesday morning, a jury ruled against Thomas and Madison Square Garden in the sexual harassment suit brought against the team by former executive Anucha Browne Sanders. So, under Thomas, the Knicks are now offensive on and off the floor.

Thomas should be fired. Now.

Not just for being a bad general manager. Not just for being a mediocre coach. And not just for some of the reprehensible things he said and did in the front office throughout the course of the last few years. He should be fired because, when you take all of those aspects together, he has done nothing but embarrass the franchise in just about every possible way.

Actually, Thomas should resign. I am not sure his ego would let him do that, though. Thomas's statement this morning read: "I am extremely disappointed that the jury failed to see the truth in this case -- that I never sexually harassed Anucha Browne-Sanders and had nothing to do with her being fired. I didn't do what she said I did. I am innocent. I remain confident in the truth -- and am committed to appealing this decision and clearing my good name. During this period, I will focus on the basketball operations of the New York Knicks, and will have no further comment on this case."

Thomas seems intent on staying, though his continued employment would only mean continued embarrassment and distraction. Oh, and more front-office ineptitude.

Bad contracts? They're all over this roster, and they're not going anywhere. Not only is Thomas's latest big-time acquisition -- Zach Randolph -- a duplication of Eddy Curry, but he will ensure that the team has no cap space until 2010. Jared Jeffries, Jerome James, Jamal Crawford, Malik Rose. And let's not forget the fact that the Knicks had to shell out eight figures just to make ex-coach Larry Brown go away. You name him, Isiah's overpaying him.

Bad production? You got it. Thomas' first team, in 2003-'04, went 39-43, and for a while, it seemed that maybe the Knicks had something going. But, of course, he meddled. Then, the team was 33-49. And then it went 23-59, the Brown fiasco. Last year, Thomas took over as coach and went 33-49. Only seven NBA teams were worse.

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Bad behavior? Well, the jury in the Browne Sanders suit obviously thought so. Clearly, he was, at least, a creep. Would you want Isiah Thomas leaning over your shoulder, trying to kiss your cheek when you came to work in the morning? Ew.

And there was Thomas' bizarre reasoning behind why it was all right for him to call Browne Sanders a gender-offensive word (hint: starts with a 'b'), but not for, say, someone like me. His reasoning: because both he and Browne Sanders are black.

Thomas reportedly said in his deposition, "A white man calling a black female that, it's on with me, too. I'm not tolerating that. I'm not accepting that. So, if it's going down that road, with a black female and a white male saying that to her, well, that's a problem for me, and I'm sorry to say. I do make a distinction."

Huh? What planet is this guy from? I am not a woman, but I think I can say that the word is universally offensive to just about every member of that gender, black, white or purple, no matter whom the speaker is.

It's pretty easy to see the myriad ways that Thomas has flopped. He's had some successes, for sure -- he's gotten some good play out of Eddy Curry and has been above average in the draft. But those minor successes pale in comparison to Thomas' enormous legacy of failure and, now, embarrassment.

Fire him now.

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