Isiah Thomas era coaching: A game of musical chairs
Poor roster decisions would not be the only problem to characterize Thomas’ time as President of the New York Knicks. The Knicks’ head coaching decisions would become a major headache for the Executive.
Lenny Wilkens
On January 14, 2004, Thomas fired Don Chaney as head coach of the Knicks along with assistant coaches Brendan Malone and Lon Kruger. Since taking over as head coach after the departure of Jeff Van Gundy two seasons prior, Chaney’s record was 72 and 112. I imagine as soon he as heard the news that the Knicks had a new President Chaney knew the only real question about a coaching change was when.
Lenny Wilkens was Thomas’ pick for the head coaching position. Considering the mess he was walking into, Wilkens managing to get the Knicks’ to the playoffs during his first season as head coach actually very respectable.
The following season the Knicks would start 16 and 13 before dropping 9 of their next 10. Wilkens would resign his position on January 22, 2005, and Herb Williams would take over head coaching responsibilities for the rest of the season.
Larry Brown
Thomas’ next choice for the Knicks’ coach would be an even bigger fiasco. On July 17, 2005, Thomas made Larry Brown the highest-paid coach in NBA history with a 5-year, $50-million contract. Brown was a recent NBA Champion with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. If Brown could stop the tailspin that the New York Knicks had now been in for six seasons, he would prove to be worth every penny.
Instead, Brown just heaped onto the Knicks’ internal issues by publically complaining about… well just about everything. There’s no question that Brown knew what he was doing as a coach, but he brought a lot of drama wherever he went and the Knicks simply couldn’t handle anymore.
Between a very public feud with Stephon Marbury, to apparently creating what was a pretty toxic environment for the players, and reportedly throwing his weight around to get Trevor Ariza traded, hiring Brown was just more fuel on the dumpster fire also known as the New York Knicks’ organization.
But, really, like so many of the Knicks’ other problematic decisions, the fact that this wouldn’t work out could have been pretty easily predicted. A big clue is why it’s believed that Detroit Pistons’ owner Bill Davidson decided to buy Brown out of his contract. What organization buys out a coach immediately following an Eastern Conference Finals appearance and an NBA Championship back-to-back if not for a good reason?
The part that absolutely blows my mind though is the fact that the problems between Stephon Marbury and Larry Brown started in 2004 when Brown was coaching the Olympic team before he was hired as Head Coach for the Knicks.
Marbury would go on to call the 2004 Olympics:
"The worst 38 days of my life."
When Marbury learned that Brown was in consideration for the Head Coach position in New York it was his worst-case-scenario. In 2017 he said:
"I begged Isiah not to bring him to the Knicks. It was just unbearable, man. Nobody wanted to play for him. The whole energy was terrible. But it was the environment he wanted. Misery."
After finishing the season 23 and 59, the Knicks worst record since the 1985- 86 season, on June 23, 2006, Larry Brown was fired. Brown admitted that he deserved to be fired saying:
"I’m disappointed, I love this franchise, but I didn’t do what I was paid to do I didn’t do the job. I wish them well and I move on. I had a great opportunity, I love this franchise, they feel I didn’t do what I came to do I mean, I won 23 games."
But at the same time, Brown apparently believed he deserved the $40 million that was outstanding on his contract. What must it be like to live in a world where you can openly admit that you did a terrible job and still walk away with $18.5 million dollars?
Isiah Thomas
James Dolan wasted no time in deciding that Isiah Thomas should take over as the Knicks’ Head Coach with the mandate that “evident progress” needed to be made. And why not? He put the roster together. Maybe he would succeed in…
Nope. No, no, no. I can’t do it.
Thomas’ time as the Knicks’ head coach started with a record of 29 and 34. In case you needed a reminder that James Dolan is wildly underqualified to run a basketball team, Isiah Thomas would still be given a contract extension on March 12, 2007. Apparently, a record of .460 was considered enough improvement.
The Knicks would finish out the season with only 4 more wins in 19 games, keeping them way out of the playoffs before returning to a 23 and 59 record the following season, Thomas’ last as a member of the New York Knicks’ organization.