It’s always been known that Knicks owner James Dolan loves Isiah Thomas, almost more than Dolan loves Cablevision. Thomas coached the Knicks into the Eastern Conference basement, got in legal trouble and generally sullied the name of one of the most famous franchises in all of sports, and yet the former Bad Boy floor general hanged above the heads of NYK execs and coaches all the time like a threat. Dolan even tried to hire Thomas back when he was still employed as a coach somewhere else (talk about a fall from grace — he was at Florida International) to be a consultant. Forget “I (heart) NY” shirts; around Madison Square Garden there might as well be Dolan (hearts) Isiah gear being printed for how obvious it all was. According to the New York Daily News, Thomas is the only thing standing between himself and a job back with the Knicks now, too. He doesn’t want the media to jump his case — too late — about how terrible his contributions to the team were before, though. So where do you stash a superstar Hall of Famer like Thomas in your organization? The Daily News laid out the possibilities: Mike Woodson‘s assistant (won’t happen), D-League coach (you honestly see Isiah coming back for bus rides through the night?) and team president (apparently not under consideration despite the stellar job he did last time). We could see him going back on the bench with Woodson but that would be a toxic atmosphere for the head coach with Dolan’s bud on the bench assisting, and just waiting to take over should a misstep happen with Woodson or Amar’e Stoudemire’s transformation. Nope, he’s going to stick to being Dolan’s right-hand man, the basketball world’s most feared consultant considering how much he can steal away jobs from those beneath him giving a whim by the owner. … Could Isiah turn a corner and become even half as valuable on the bench as he was playing? That’s the million-dollar question seemingly everyone but the Knicks has decided on as negative. He’s proven to be a poor rebuilder in college and the pros and didn’t exactly inspire confidence he could be the same kind of x’s and o’s savant he was with the ball in his hands as he was with in a suit. We wish we knew exactly where the continuity between being an incredible player and a coach broke for him. … Andre Iguodala said this weekend that he is definitely interested in playing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio to try and get another gold medal. Iggy’s an interesting case for a look four years down the road. For one, LeBron is expected to still be in the top echelon of the world’s players because of his rare blend of size and power at his positions. His passing and intimidation factor make him a no-brainer for 2016, which he’s said he’ll consider. Iguodala, however, stands as a guy who needs to be at his quickest on D to make that team and in four years he’ll have lost a step unless the German doctor who fixed Kobe and Andrew Bynum‘s knees can do the whole body for guys in their 30s. His jumper is spotty and his athleticism, while great, can only decline, so defense is his calling card. While we understand that elite defenders such as Scottie Pippen could hold guys into their mid-30s, we have our doubts about his defense and conditioning in four years. We hope he proves us wrong, though, because the way he was focused at the Olympics despite being traded before the gold-medal game was textbook focus by U.S. players. … Hit the jump to read about $100,000 in jewelry one college player had …
Something that we couldn’t get to last night but had us thinking the whole weekend was how Lance Thomas could put down 30 grand on a down payment for nearly $100,000 in jewelry as a senior in college. The guy who started 39 games for Duke in 2009-10 — the year the Blue Devils won the NCAA title again, mind you — Thomas dropped $30K on a down payment for the five pieces of jewelry in December of his senior season. He hadn’t paid back the nearly $68,000 he got as credit, said that AP story. … The Lakers signed former troubled UCLA player Reeves Nelson and second-round pick Robert Sacre this weekend. Nelson’s talent level is crazy high but how’s he going to figure out the head games of the NBA if he can make his nonguaranteed deal work out? … We’re out like Isiah.
Follow Dime Magazine on Twitter
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook