Isiah Thomas is making a return to the New York Knicks, regardless of the fans’ opinions. The Hall of Fame former Detroit Pistons point guard, who has held various roles with the Knicks after his playing career, is joining the franchise as a member of its newly established board of directors.
This new board is part of a business restructuring that separates the Knicks and the New York Rangers, both previously managed by MSG Sports under CEO and Knicks governor James Dolan. According to The Athletic, the split was approved by MSG Sports’ board this week, resulting in two publicly traded companies: MSG Rangers Corp., which will manage the Rangers and their AHL affiliate the Hartford Wolf Pack, and MSG Knickerbockers Corp., responsible for the Knicks and their G League team, the Westchester Knicks. Dolan will serve as chairman and CEO of both entities, and Thomas, a longtime ally of Dolan, will join the MSG Knickerbockers Corp. board.
Thomas has a complicated history with the Knicks. Although he spent his entire 13-year NBA playing career with the Pistons—leading them to two championships—his various executive and coaching stints with New York have largely been unsuccessful. Hired in 2003 as president of basketball operations, Thomas’s tenure saw the Knicks miss the playoffs four consecutive years and never exceed 33 wins in a season. The 2005-06 team matched a franchise record low with a 23-59 record. In 2006, Thomas faced a sexual harassment allegation that was settled by MSG for $11.5 million. That same year, after the firing of coach Larry Brown, Thomas assumed the role of head coach while retaining his presidency. Over two seasons in both positions, the Knicks struggled with records of 33-49 and 23-59, again tying the franchise low for losses.
Despite being dismissed as head coach in 2008, Thomas continued advising the NBA team before moving on to coach at Florida International University in 2009. Throughout all these ups and downs, Dolan has remained supportive, rehiring Thomas in 2015 as head coach of the WNBA’s New York Liberty—then owned by Dolan. Thomas parted ways with the Liberty following its sale in 2019. More recently, he’s served on the board of directors for The Sphere, an innovative entertainment venue in Las Vegas also operated by Dolan. Now, fresh off the Knicks’ first NBA championship since 1973, Thomas returns to the organization in an official board capacity. However, it remains unclear how much influence he will have over the team’s basketball operations moving forward.
Fan Take: Isiah Thomas’s return to the Knicks is significant because it underscores the influence James Dolan holds over the franchise’s direction, for better or worse. Basketball fans should be watching closely to see whether this move signals stability and experience at the front office level or more of the same struggles the team has faced in recent decades.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
