Long-time Indiana Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh announced today that he will be leaving the organization at the end of this season. Of course that leads to speculation that Walsh will assume a similar position with the New York Knicks. The 67 year-old Walsh had a successful run in his 24 year tenure with the Pacers. For years and years they were a perennial contender, even reaching the NBA Finals in the 1999-2000 season. They were a model franchise for a long time, but have fallen on hard times ever since the Malice at the Palace in 2004, the infamous brawl in which Ron Artest went in to the stands to go after a fan in Detroit. It was a devastating blow to a great franchise, and they have not been able to recover since the fracas.
I’ll be honest here, I’ll be sad if current Knicks czar Isiah Thomas loses power. I’m not a Knicks fan, so I’m able to sit back and enjoy the comical train-wreck that is the New York Knicks. I would never want Isiah in charge of one of my favorite teams, but from an outsider’s perspective, all of the shenanigans have been hysterical. All joking and laughing aside, it’s been obvious for years now that the Knicks have to move forward in a different direction. Although the Pacers have fallen on hard times, Donnie Walsh is still a widely respected figure in the NBA. He would not bring instant credibility to the franchise, because honestly that’s impossible to do as long as James Dolan is still the owner. But his presence would somewhat restore respectability to a franchise that is a disaster in every way imaginable. We’ll see if this actually happens or not, but if I were a betting man, I’d say Donnie Walsh will be at the helm sooner rather than later.
Happy Birthay to Gorgeous George, Steve McQueen, Tommy Hilfiger, Mike Woodson, Annabella Sciorra, The Undertaker, Steve Karsay, Alyson Hannigan, Aaron Brooks, Dustin McGowan, Corey Hart, T.J. Ford, Chris Bosh, and R. Lee Ermey – The former Marine and classic actor famous for his role as Coach Norton in Saving Silverman
Filed under: NBA - Knicks, Writer - Bill Slattery
