Photo Nate Robinson, Eddy Curry, and Stephon Marbury during a March game against the Miami Heat by AP/Frank Franklin II
Are the Knicks under Isiah Thomas the worst team in the history of sports? According to New York Magazine, they just might be. Jeff Coplan’s piece offers the most complete and depressing summary of the Knicks during the Dolan era. From designating Knicks as “the Church of Lowered Expectations” under Dolan to describing the “rolls of flab” peeking through the Eddy Curry’s jersey, everyone--with the exception of Malik Rose and David Lee--is subject to withering criticism.
According to the article, the horror began when Jim Dolan wanted a big name to run the Knicks, trying to get Magic Johnson and ultimately hiring Johnson’s recommendation, Isiah Thomas. We might argue problems started earlier--the Patrick Ewing trade for Glenn Rice instead of letting Ewing's contract run out--but Coplan's account of the Isiah era is thorough and fills in some new details. Like:
- The Knicks apparently kept a microphone on at the scorer’s table to eavesdrop on conversations between the press and players.
- A Rockets scouting report basically confirms the fact no one on the Knicks plays defense or even tries to.
- And of course there's plenty about Isiah, Dolan and Stephon, the three main players of this tragedy.
Coplan's best-case scenario is Isiah being fired and Dolan on “new meds”. And, as Anucha Browne Sanders so smartly said, “There’s no way to fix the problem when the problem is ownership.”
