Bill Simmons threatened by Knicks GM Isiah Thomas

[Drbio]

I was listening to ESPN radio this morning and they said that Isaiah has had two other similar allegations. One at Indy and another somewhere else (didn't catch it). They were talking about a pattern of behavior against women.

sickening.

[MavKikiNYC]

The other incident was at Toronto.

[MavKikiNYC]

NO OTHER SOLUTION THAN TO CUT TIES By JAY GREENBERG
JIM Dolan, dream owner for arrogant, unaccountable and under performing general managers, now has a nightmare on his hands to try even his exceptional level of patience. Wherever the truth is, somewhere between Anucha Browne Sanders' accusations of sexual harassment and Isiah Thomas' utter denials of it, there is no business plan that can tolerate a bad guy who has put together a bad team.

Isiah has to go, as Dolan will come to realize, the sooner the better. Eventually there will be a settlement because these things almost always reach a point where a settlement suits both parties. Still, long before this suit gets to any testimony from a witness chair, Dolan can read the deposition from empty seats, at least 1000 of them visible to him Wednesday night.


Dolan also is privy to the ledger detailing an NBA-high $120 million outflow for talent, plus previous flushings like Lenny Wilkens and Vin Baker. Sure, the Knicks team Thomas inherited 25 months ago was old, slow and hopelessly over the cap, forcing him to take on even more money and chances on flawed younger players.


Still, one of basketball's smartest-ever floor operators and cunning off-the court manipulators has astoundingly, almost exclusively, acquired players who do not think the game well.


The immediate impact of Channing Frye and David Lee, who have a chance to be lastingly good picks, has been oversold, and little Nate Robinson is a circus distraction from an otherwise terrible body of work. So, any kind of a quick turnaround will be impossible before the lawsuit approaches trial. Certainly a jury will be sworn in before Eddy Curry, the player upon which two high first-round picks and what remains of Thomas's credibility rests, gets healthy, if the center ever does.


Therefore it would be stubbornness of an unprecedented level, even for Dolan, to hang on. Assuming his willingness to fight Browne Sanders is partly out of anger at the dysfunction and, now, humiliation she has brought upon the organization, Dolan still would be better off paying Thomas to go away than her.


We can only guess what the owner believes really took place between Thomas and Browne Sanders, whether Dolan interprets it as threatening or just playful. But the boss who vouched for Glen Sather as an organizational builder while the Rangers continued to miss the playoffs could not be happy Thomas refused to provide players to the Knicks' marketing vice president, however demanding and aggravating she may have been.


Remember that as self-appointed gatekeeper of the players' down time, Jeff Van Gundy did not endear himself to Dolan. This board chairman, the one with the perpetually rose-colored glasses, wants everybody he pays to get along.


A Garden employee who has sat in on Dolan-run meetings finds it curious Browne Sanders' threat did not cause the usual Garden lockdown instincts to kick in. The fact Dolan didn't just pay Browne Sanders to keep quiet, says this source, is indication Dolan wanted this public as an excuse to get rid of Thomas. Despite the Garden's so-far backing of its basketball boss, that's an interesting thought, but it sounds a lot more like something Thomas is capable of than Dolan.


Just ask Larry Bird, or Piston teammates who were scared to death of Thomas, or the corporate bosses against whom Thomas maneuvered and lost in Toronto, or the Mom and Pop operators of the CBA whom he ruined. Don Chaney, Allan Houston and Lenny Wilkens were all good persons whose exits were handled by Thomas in callous and Machiavellian manner.


Psychologists will tell you sexual harassment is all about control and Isiah Thomas certainly fits the profile. Common sporting business sense says you get away with almost anything if you win, but Thomas hasn't put together a team or even appears to have any plan that can absolve him.


His time is shrinking. This embarrassment to an owner who hates to be embarrassed should bring it to an end.

[MavKikiNYC]

Steph laughs at Isiah's suit
BY FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Thursday, January 26th, 2006

The four stitches on Stephon Marbury's lower lip and the Knicks' miserable record should be the least of his problems. But the veteran point guard doesn't see it that way. In fact, Marbury says he can "laugh at" the controversy swirling around himself, his family, Isiah Thomas and the team.

Asked yesterday if the events of the past two days were a distraction, Marbury said: "I mean, it's not a distraction to me, and I'm in the paper about as much as Isiah. But I laugh at it. It's a joke to me. I just laugh at it."

Thomas, the Knicks president, is being sued by a former high-ranking Madison Square Garden employee for sexual harassment and discrimination. Marbury was named in the lawsuit for making derogatory comments toward the plaintiff, Anucha Browne Sanders.

Also, Hassan Gonsalves, one of Marbury's two cousins hired by the Knicks' community relations department, was fired for sexually harassing several women on the staff and defrauding the company, according to the lawsuit. The Daily News reported on Thursday that Gonsalves threatened Browne Sanders after he was fired, telling her, "We know you have kids. We know where you live."

Another cousin, Tasheem Ward, is still employed by the team and is well-liked and respected by his co-workers.

Marbury confirmed that Gonsalves was dismissed by Browne Sanders, saying, "Yeah, that happened." He declined, however, to discuss anything relating to the lawsuit or Browne Sanders. The moody point guard, appearing more jovial than usual, smiled as he repeated over and over, "I'm not at liberty to talk about that."

"That's a good line, right?" he added.

Thomas attended practice yesterday in Greenburgh but exited before the media were allowed to enter the room. He was not available for comment.

Marbury believes that the Garden's legal troubles have had no impact on the Knicks, who are 13-27 after losing to the Sacramento Kings in overtime on Wednesday.

"I think guys are probably more frustrated as far as losing," said Marbury, who suffered a cut lip in the loss. "But all of this other stuff, I think everyone is starting to understand this is New York. You can't really go to the bathroom the wrong way. If somebody smells it the wrong way, they're going to write about it.


That's just how it is. I think everyone is getting used to that, and they understand it."

Marbury is standing firmly behind Thomas, who acquired him two years ago from the Phoenix Suns. The deal, Thomas' signature trade as Knicks' president, has yet to result in a playoff victory or a winning record in the regular season.

The close relationship between Marbury and Thomas has created friction in the locker room over the years. Many former teammates felt that Marbury flaunted his ties with Thomas by occasionally sitting out practice or breaking off plays in games without being reprimanded.

Last season, when Lenny Wilkens still was the coach, Marbury gave an impassioned speech to his teammates about pulling together. His impromptu pep talk came right before a morning practice. But as soon as the team took the court, Marbury retreated to the locker room for a massage.

Because of Thomas, Marbury publicly endorsed the hiring of Larry Brown even though he and Brown had clashed at the 2004 Olympics. This season, Brown and Marbury have had two memorable hissing matches that played out in the media. But since last month's loss at Orlando, Marbury has played better and seems to have a better understanding of what Brown wants from his point guard.

According to sources, Thomas is surprised that Marbury hasn't handled the pressure of playing in New York as well as he thought the Brooklyn-born point guard would. Publicly, however, Thomas has gone out of his way to support Marbury even at the expense of losing some credibility with some players.

Marbury is returning that loyalty by saying yesterday that he believes that Thomas will be exonerated of all charges.

"What he always tells me is, if you're true to the game, the game is going to be true to you," Marbury said. "So, whenever you know the truth, the truth lies on top all the time. So, you feel bad that these things are happening, but at the same time, in the back of his mind, he knows what's right."

[MavKikiNYC]

I've always thought Marbury was stupid....in the uneducated, ignorant, intellectually impoverished sense.

But reading his comments, I start to wonder whether he has some kind of learning disability or other cognitive impairment.

What ghetto idiots he and his lot are.

[sike]

Originally Posted by MavKikiNYC

But reading his comments, I start to wonder whether he has some kind of learning disability or other cognitive impairment.

ouch.

[Drbio]

Isaiah is a tool....a quick perusal of some newspaper reports provides the following:

The NBA likely will launch a probe into allegations that Knicks President Isiah Thomas conspired to get opposing players drunk the night before games, sources told the New York Daily News. A sexual harassment lawsuit accused Thomas of working with concierges at hotels frequented by visiting teams to encourage opposing players to go to certain bars and strip clubs and get drunk the night before a day game. -- New York Daily News

Isiah Thomas' accuser was offered $250,000 to make her harassment claims disappear, a source close to the Knicks president claimed yesterday. -- New York Daily News

Stephon Marbury is standing firmly behind Isiah Thomas, who acquired him two years ago from the Suns. The close relationship between Marbury and Thomas has created friction in the locker room over the years. Many former teammates felt that Marbury flaunted his ties with Thomas by occasionally sitting out practice or breaking off plays in games without being reprimanded. -- New York Daily News

[sike]

likely will launch a probe

this made me laugh...

[vjz]

One thing is for sure: there is absolutely no way Isiah would've made advances toward Sanders. I mean, have you seen her pic?

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basket...orts-headlines

[Drbio]

Originally Posted by vjz

One thing is for sure: there is absolutely no way Isiah would've made advances toward Sanders. I mean, have you seen her pic?

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basket...orts-headlines

What a total load of horseshit. Here we go again. Immediately attack the woman when a sexual assault/harrassment occurs. I am so sick of this kind of stupidity.

[Thespiralgoeson]

I'm still trying to figure out why any NBA team would hire Isiah Thomas to do ANYTHING for them. I mean, just look at his record since his playing career ended. Failure after failure...

[vjz]

Originally Posted by Drbio

What a total load of horseshit. Here we go again. Immediately attack the woman when a sexual assault/harrassment occurs. I am so sick of this kind of stupidity.

Um, I wasn't really attacking her... just pointing out that she isn't the most attractive woman in the world, which makes her case a bit weak.

I mean, Isiah is the GM of the Kicks! He could have any woman he wants in New York!! (OK, not literally, but you know what I mean...)

[Big Boy Laroux]

vj, that post is what's weak. A woman's appearance has no bearing in whether an assault accusation is "weak".

[mary]

Originally Posted by vjz

Um, I wasn't really attacking her... just pointing out that she isn't the most attractive woman in the world, which makes her case a bit weak.

I mean, Isiah is the GM of the Kicks! He could have any woman he wants in New York!! (OK, not literally, but you know what I mean...)

This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've read since Deus was banned. How old are you exactly?

[MavKikiNYC]

Shoouldn't we at least explain to VJZ whiy her perceived level of attractiveness is irrelevant?

VJZ, like rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment isn't always about sexual attraction. In a lot of cases it's more of an attempt to express dominance or exercise control over someone. And this is TOTALLY in keeping with everything we know about Zeke as a behind-the-scenes manipulator and conniver, as a player, as an executive and as a business person. I believe every word of the complaint against him.

And as for attractiveness, Browne-Sanders is AT LEAST as attractive a woman as Zeke is a man. Let's face it--neither one of them are what you'd call "lookers" in the classical sense. She's got a little bit of a masculine presence to her, but....ya know, some men like that in a woman, dominatrix complex and all. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google it.

For his part, Zeke has always looked a bit feminine to me....something about his face---more transvestite than boyish. One coat of lipstick and he could walk proudly on 9th Ave.

In any case, she's just about as big as he is, so he may well have been sexually intimidated by her.

Now, she is reported to have THE top sexual harrassment attorney representing her. She won't lose. The Knicks will settle rather than have this go to trial and have all their skid-marked corporate underwear out on display.

Zeke, Cleopatra Jones is gonna kick yo' a$$.

[FINtastic]

So when is Isiah ever going to get charged with raping the CBA and leaving that for dead?

But seriously, I can't wait for this guy's career to be over. His career after his playing days has been an absolute failure. Hopefully, this is just the straw that broke the camel's back. I wouldn't be upset at all if I never saw him associated with the game of basketball again.

[Mavdog]

Before Accusations, Success in Business and Basketball
By RICHARD SANDOMIR
She grew up in Brooklyn, honed her basketball game against guys on the Parade Grounds and averaged 25 points a game at St. Saviour High School. As a Northwestern senior, she scored 45 points, had 17 rebounds and blocked 6 shots in a 74-69 victory over St. John's at Alumni Hall.

By the time Anucha (which means "goddess" in Ethiopian) Browne Sanders's college career ended in 1985, she was the leading scorer in Big Ten women's basketball history, with 2,307 points.

"She was very determined and very focused and could get many jobs done on the floor," said Don Perrelli, who coached Sanders in her senior year. "She could dribble for a big player, and back then, 6-1 was big, shoot from the outside and play inside the paint like no other player I'd ever seen."

Browne Sanders, 43, still plays basketball at a Y.M.C.A. in Summit, N.J. But her on-court abilities are not what have elevated her to fame.

Earlier this week, she filed suit in federal court against Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden, accusing Thomas of sexually harassing her when she was the Knicks' senior vice president for marketing and business operations.

She was fired Jan. 19 after the Garden said that its investigation could not substantiate her accusations.

Since the lawsuit was filed, Thomas has denied the allegations against him. Steve Mills, the president of MSG Sports, who was her supervisor, said that Browne Sanders had demanded $6.5 million to leave the Garden quietly.

Before last night's Magic-Knicks game, Thomas again maintained his innocence, while a spokesman for the Garden, Barry Watkins, said that Thomas had the full support of James L. Dolan, the Garden's chairman.

Browne Sanders said she had had a strong relationship with Mills before Thomas's arrival as the Knicks' president of basketball operations in December 2003, but she said Mills did nothing when she told him that Thomas had berated her and made sexual advances.

Mills offered strong praise for Browne Sanders in 2002 when she was honored by the Sports Business Journal, a weekly trade magazine, as one of its top 40 executives under the age of 40.

"What makes Anucha stand out is her competitiveness," Mills said. "You see it in everything she does, whether it's her day-to-day work, or when she's on the Garden floor playing basketball with the guys from our ad sales group."

He said some of the men were shocked by her basketball skills.

Sanders wanted to be a figure skater but by eighth grade, she favored basketball. "I liked it better," she said in response to e-mailed questions. "I have a slightly better physique for basketball than Michelle Kwan."

She said she developed her shooting touch in high school, and her skills caught the eye of Perrelli, who was then the women's coach at St. John's. "I would have been happy for her to come to St. John's," he said.

Stephanie Chambers-Duckmann, a teammate at Northwestern, said, "She was a great leader who knew how to take over a game."

There was no W.N.B.A. at the time, which compelled Browne Sanders to start her business career. She worked at Eastman Kodak, then at I.B.M., where she held positions in marketing the Olympics when the computer giant was a worldwide sponsor. Among other things, she developed the company's in-house Olympic Web site.

"She was very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and ambitious," said Eli Primrose-Smith, who was then I.B.M.'s vice president for worldwide Olympic sponsorship. "She really wanted to make a name for herself."

She added that after evaluating the work of its Olympic team after the Nagano Winter Games in 1998, Browne Sanders stayed with the unit two years later in Sydney. "She was very good at seeking out people in power to get their advice and say, very upfront, 'O.K, what do I have to do to get to the next stage?' " Primrose-Smith said. "She would bluntly say, 'What do I need to do to improve?' "

Another supervisor at I.B.M., George Conte, described Browne Sanders as "incredibly ambitious, with a tremendous ability to work with other people."

She was recruited to the Garden by Mills in 2000 to be the Knicks' vice president for marketing and was promoted to senior vice president in 2002. She said in her lawsuit that in 2002 and 2003, she received the highest possible rating, a "5," on her company evaluations.

But last March, after a year in which she made accusations against Thomas, her evaluation fell to a "4."

She was the person in charge of finding new ways to sell Knicks tickets after years of sellouts gave way to empty seats. And Thomas reportedly refused to let her use Knicks players in a current advertising campaign; instead, the campaign uses a series of life-sized cardboard cutouts devised by an outside agency.

"I always found Anucha to be a serious-minded, sober executive, very conscientious in her work and very dedicated to advancing the image and prestige of the New York Knicks," said Seth Abraham, the former president of Madison Square Garden/Radio City Entertainment. "While we did not always agree on marketing strategies, her opinions were always reasoned and well thought-out."

The ugliness of her sexual harassment accusations against Thomas surprised Chambers-Duckmann and Perrelli.

"I do not question her integrity," Chambers-Duckmann said, "and I see no reason for her to make things up."

Perrelli added: "I'd be totally shocked if anything came out to show that she wasn't telling the truth. This is a class individual. I had to do a double-take when I saw it on television."

[Drbio]

"I do not question her integrity," Chambers-Duckmann said, "and I see no reason for her to make things up."

Perrelli added: "I'd be totally shocked if anything came out to show that she wasn't telling the truth. This is a class individual. I had to do a double-take when I saw it on television."

Pretty strong support there.

[MavKikiNYC]

Larry Brown's support of Zeke was:

"I've known him since high school. We'll see how this plays out."

[Drbio]

I think he must have editted out the middle sentence where he wonders if Zeke is guilty since he knows he is capable of it.

[sike]

anyone else been threatened by Isaih yet??? Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Nuns?

[Big Boy Laroux]

ha ha ha. what a ringing endorsement... "I've known him since high school"

[MavKikiNYC]

Isiah's 19-year-old love child takes shot at dad he's never met
I should get to say two words to my father: 'Hello. Goodbye.'
By DARREN EVERSON in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.,
and DAVE GOLDINER in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Isiah Thomas
Isiah Thomas' teenage love child said yesterday he's long ached to meet his famous father - but the embattled Knick boss has denied him a shot.

Speaking out for the first time, Marc Dones, 19, an aspiring writer whose mom had a brief affair with a then-engaged Thomas two decades ago, said he still pines for an opportunity to get to know the father he's only seen on TV.

"People should be parents. That's it," Dones said. "By the time I turn 20, I should get to say two words to my father: 'Hello. Goodbye.' If that's it, then I should get those two."
Dones said he's called Thomas twice, but never got a response.

"I'd like to speak to him. I'd like to know him," said the dreadlocked young poet. "But that's not the situation I'm in."

Dones broke his silence just days after Thomas, a married father of two, was accused in a federal lawsuit of sexually harassing Anucha Browne Sanders, a Knicks executive.

Thomas, 44, has denied the allegations.
"I don't know anything about any of this. It has nothing to do with me," Dones said. "I don't have an opinion about what kind of person he is. I don't know him."

But the well-spoken teenager, who wore jeans and a T-shirt and held a cigarette as he stood outside his family's townhouse in suburban Detroit, had plenty else to say - and revealed planning to write a memoir about his unique family life.

Dones is 5-foot-10 and has an athletic build, but said he's not interested in being a star athlete like his Hall of Fame dad.

"It's just chasing a ball," he said of basketball, the sport that made his father rich and famous. "I don't know why you'd do that."

A talented poet and writer, Marc Dones went to the Roeper School, an elite private academy outside Detroit. He plans to attend the New School University in New York this fall.

His mother, Jenni Dones, got pregnant during a 1985 affair with Thomas, just two months before the then-NBA superstar player married his current wife, Lynn.

Jenni Dones has claimed she had a three- or four-month relationship with the Detroit Pistons All-Star, but her lawyer agreed with Thomas' version that it was a one-night stand.

After Marc Dones was born in 1986, Thomas admitted being the father and agreed to pay $52,000, plus $2,764.78 per month until Marc turned 18 - and then a lump sum of $100,000 to the youth.

Jenni Dones later sued for more support, claiming that her lawyer had failed to get a good enough deal from Thomas.

Again, the NBA star agreed to fork over more dough to support his child.

"He acted honorably, as far as I'm concerned," said Elbert Hatchett, the lawyer who represented Jenni Dones and was later sued by her.

Jenni Dones, who was at a family funeral yesterday, was not reachable for comment.

Kevin Mintzer, a spokesman for Sanders, declined to comment yesterday as did Raynor Grossman, a spokeswoman for Thomas.

No one answered the door at the Westchester mansion where Thomas lives with his wife and their two teenage children.

Jenni Dones' mother, Edwynna Anderson, was a prominent lawyer, a trailblazing black journalist in Michigan and a Detroit prosecutor.

Jenni Dones, a single mom, went on to have another child, now 13. She once ran a program in the urban studies center at Wayne State University in Detroit but apparently no longer works there.

She filed twice for bankruptcy protection, most recently in December, legal records show.

But Marc Dones called his mom a "very strong woman" who had long since moved on from the affair with Thomas.

"My mom doesn't believe in regret, which is shaping a lot of my dealing with it," he said. "There's no point. It happened. It's over."

"She's more than capable of dealing with my father, for one, and dealing with the world, for two," he added.

Even without a father, the teenager says he's had a good life and is resigned that he might never get to know his dad, who is running the struggling Knicks.

"We've never had a relationship," Dones said of Thomas. "I don't think we will. ... My life is completely separate."

He's already had work published on TheDetroiter.com, an artsy Web site in the Motor City.

"What amazes me, for his age, is his grasp of poetry," said Eric Novack, the site's literary editor. "He is an incredible young man."

Despite Thomas' refusal to have any contact with him, Dones said he won't allow himself to be eaten up with bitterness.

"That's my life - there's nothing I can do about it," he said. "It doesn't upset me. When I was younger, yes. Having known it no other way, there's no reason to be bitter about it.

"I don't hold him any malice. I don't have any ill will," he added as he hustled the family's dog, Charlie, a black Labrador retriever and Shih Tzu mix, into the backyard.

"It's hard to have any ill will toward someone who you don't have a relationship with."

[MavKikiNYC]

SOURCES: ISIAH, VP HAD 'WILD ARGUMENT'
By MARC BERMAN January 30, 2006 -- ATLANTA — Anucha Browne Sanders and Frank Murphy are listed as senior vice presidents with full-page bios in the Knicks media guide.

Both worked under Isiah Thomas and both are gone now. Sanders left before filing a sexual harassment suit against Thomas. Two sources said Murphy's departure also came under suspect circumstances, despite the club's company line that he retired.

Two sources said Murphy, the senior VP of Basketball Operations who managed the team's salary cap and structured contracts, agreed to a "retirement settlement" late in preseason only after a "wild argument" with Thomas.

"It's been a well-kept secret in the organization what the argument was over," one source said. "Even the top executives like Anucha didn't know."

A Knick official said Murphy actually was the liason between Sanders and Thomas. Hence, Sanders and Thomas did not speak often, the Knick official said.

The Knicks say several different people have inherited Murphy's job. Murphy, 64, had worked for the Knicks since 1990.

"I have no comment," Murphy said. "I'm just enjoying retirement."

Meanwhile, according to a Garden employee, Sanders' ego was so huge that she demanded her full
page in the media guide, even if she was just in marketing.

Knicks staffers, according to Garden sources, also found it unusual she used to sit next to former GM Scott Layden in the "war room" on draft night. Sanders periodically would travel with the club, but Thomas put a stop to it when he came aboard.
*

[dirno2000]

Isiah's 19-year-old love child takes shot at dad he's never met
I should get to say two words to my father: 'Hello. Goodbye.'

Interesting timing...it's like one last "F*ck You" before the kid shrugs his shoulders and gives up.

[MavKikiNYC]

Originally Posted by dirno2000

Interesting timing...it's like one last "F*ck You" before the kid shrugs his shoulders and gives up.

What's interesting is his intention to write a memoir, as well as his plan to attend the New School in New York. That's a somewhat unusual choice for a kid from Detroit, who could, presumably, go a lot of other places.

Gotta wonder if biological donor Isiah will still be around by then, or if he'll have blown town again. It's like Zeke thinks he can just write a monthly check and then turn his head.

What kind of man totally rejects a son like that? Not much of a man at all.

[sike]

What kind of man totally rejects a son like that? Not much of a man at all.

I knew Thomas was a basketball moron....but I always thought he had a bit of calss to him as a man....but wow....how can you father a child and just not care?

[Drbio]

Thomas is a total ass. wow.

[sike]

Originally Posted by Drbio

Thomas is a total ass. wow.

he's definitely the U2 of the NBA.