RealGM

In his first exclusive sit-down interview in seven years, James Dolan admitted he remains friends with Isiah Thomas and that the two remain in communication, although Dolan says their dialogue has decreased some due to Thomas' involvement in other fields.

Dolan was asked whether he still consults Thomas about basketball moves -- adding he thinks Thomas deserves another opportunity as an executive in the NBA.

"Not really," Dolan said. "For Isiah, I don’t know that he’ll ever be able to work in New York. I just don’t know that he’ll ever get a fair shake, going forward in New York?"

"Do I think he deserves another shot? Yeah. It just can’t be here. And I think he’s talented. I think he’s particularly talented at finding basketball talent. But I think he’s probably dismayed at this point. But I don’t see him coming back to New York. I couldn’t do that to him, and I couldn’t do that to the organization. He would probably do it as my friend but I couldn’t do it to him or his family. And you know what the press would do here. We’re interested in getting better and that situation would be such a distraction that it would actually hinder our ability to get better."

Via Mike Vaccaro/New York Post

What Dolan really says is that he can't hire Isiah back because of the media, who'd raise a **** storm.

C'mon, Dolan. Hire him back. You crave for Isiah. And the media would (secretly) love it - they'd have something to write about each and every day.

Time to make it official. Make an honest man/GM out of Isiah and put a ring on his finger.
Talking about marriage ring, not championship ring, obviously.

It doesn't feel like the Knicks without Isiah. I mean, the losing is there, the dysfunctional front office, the stupid trades, the inflated expectations each summer and the crushing reality each spring. It's like Isiah never left.

Bring Isiah back.
Everyone (outside the Knicks board) will be delighted.

Isiah must have some dirt on Dolan.

Why else would Dolan stick up for Isiah even after Isiah ran the Knicks organization off the tracks?

Say what you want about Isiah but he is excellent at evaluating young players. As a player he was as fierce as you could get. Not sure about his coaching or personal life.

As a Knicks Fan, After all he did, I do believe Isiah Thomas needs another shot.
He was one of the best GMs that drafted for the Knicks. Every player he drafted for us has had solid careers or has been all-stars.

However, For him to be a coach, I just think he needs better players with his system. You cant have players that have big egos to play for him.

Please stay away from the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons.

Dolan did get one part of that dead right, Isiah's record for finding talent in the NBA draft with both the Raptors and the Knicks was excellent.

But he didn't finish what he started in Toronto and he became a mess both on and off the job in NY. There's very little chance another NBA team would ever give him a jog let alone allow him to run their entire organization.

truthiness wrote:http://dimemag.com/2010/08/isiah-thomas-nba-draft-genius-one-of-the-leagues-biggest-myths/

Great article worth reading.

Maybe he meant the WNBA? Nah, they wouldn't want him either.

James Dolan has probably said something that wasn't completely idiotic at some point in his life, but I've never seen any evidence of it.