The Donnie Walsh Era is off to a good start, as he officially fired Isiah Thomas today. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has witnessed the disaster that is the New York Knicks. But then again, you can’t take anything granted for the Knicks, especially when owner James Dolan was dumb enough to keep Isiah around for as long as he did. I won’t give Walsh too much credit, because anyone with one-tenth of a brain would be smart enough to fire Thomas. But at the very least it shows that Walsh is wielding some power, especially since it was reported a few weeks ago that Dolan wanted to keep Thomas as the coach. But Walsh appears to have won this one, and that should be a glimmer of hope for Knicks fans.
The only issue I have is that the Knicks are keeping Isiah within the organization. I think that’s a mistake, because Isiah is such a pariah that the best course of action is to completely rid the organization of his presence. They have yet to decide what his position will be, but if it were up to me he’d be nothing more than a hot dog vendor. Privately, the team should be hoping that someone else is dumb enough to give him a meaningful job so that he’ll finally be gone. Either way, today marks the end of an era, and the beginning of a new hope for the New York Knicks.
Filed under: NBA - Knicks, Writer - Bill Slattery
You’re dead on with everything Bill.
To me, there is only one concern keeping Isiah in the organization. Walsh is 60+ years old and will be around the Knicks realistically at most 4 years. When that period passes, are the reigns bestowed to Thomas again? If he’s still on the payroll and Dolan is still control is definitely plausible.