Isiah Thomas: 'My Time With The Knicks Was Actually A Psychological Study Of New York Residents

[Viking12]

You got a better explanantion?

Isiah Thomas: 'My Time With The Knicks Was Actually A Large-Scale Psychological Study Of New York Residents'

NEW YORK—Ousted Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas, who presided over the team during one of the least successful and most shameful periods in its history, held a press conference Wednesday to announce that his four-year legacy of abysmal team chemistry, bloated payrolls, sex scandals, and simple losing was actually a vast psychological experiment carried out on New York City as a whole.

"Congratulations, New York—I've discovered you are healthier, more resilient, and stronger than anyone would have believed," Thomas told reporters assembled to see him clean out his office, file his final report to the National Institute of Mental Health, and debrief the players and coaches who had unwittingly assisted his efforts. "Although there are indications you also have deep-seated anger issues, misplaced feelings of entitlement, and tend to live vicariously through others, overall I'm very pleased with you, and I am confident you'll come out of this a much stronger city."

"I'm a bit worried, though, that you let this experiment go on as long as it did before standing up for yourselves and making it stop," Thomas added. "I had only planned for it to last a year. New Yorkers may want to work on their assertiveness in the future."

Thomas confessed that he came up with the idea in late 2003 when he heard the Knicks were seriously considering hiring him to helm the organization despite the fact that he himself was known to be a demanding, contentious figure and had no real experience coaching a team or working at the administrative level.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/isiah_thomas_my_time_with_the

[Forkboy]

1. The fucking Onion.

:rofl:

That's friggin hilarious stuff.

[joeybee12]

2. How come it takes the Onion to get it right???? n/t

[a kennedy]

3. This guy in one year completely wiped out the CBA in La Crosse, WI

and I know, little 60,000 population, La Crosse, Wisconsin, and yeah, he was our commissioner or some such, and our CBA team was this city's elite sports team.....the city rallied around our Catbirds and we all thought, great, an NBA personality to run things, well that was right, to run things, he ran things right into the ground, and just killed the spirit of our city to ever investing in any type of semi pro athletics again, which was a shame. :cry: I can't stand him. :mad:

[joeybee12]

4. Really, I didn't know he was there...

That's too bad...but that gives me one more reason to dislike Isiah.

[a kennedy]

5. Here's his glowing tenure at the CBA.....

:grr:

The Isiah Thomas years (1999-2001)

As of 1999, the CBA had survived for 54 years. That year all the league's teams were purchased by an investment group led by former NBA star Isiah Thomas. The combined ownership plan was unsuccessful, and by 2001, the CBA declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. Several of its teams briefly joined the now defunct International Basketball League.

The popular scapegoat for the demise of the CBA is Isiah Thomas, who purchased the CBA and ran it as a single-entity league, only to abandon it a year later for an NBA coaching job.

The following is a timeline of the events surrounding Thomas' ownership of the CBA:

* August 3, 1999 - Former NBA superstar Isiah Thomas purchases the CBA - the entire league, including all the teams, and its marketing company, CBA Properties - for $10 million. Thomas says that the league will now operate as a single-owner entity, and that the CBA will continue to be the official developmental league of the NBA.
* October 7, 1999 - the sale of the CBA to Thomas is finalized. Thomas paid $5 million up front and agreed to make four additional payments to the CBA's former team owners for the remainder of the debt.
* October 24, 1999 - Thomas announces that there will be salary cuts in the CBA. The average salary of $1,500 per week will be reduced to $1,100 per week, with rookies getting $800 a week. Thomas' reasoning is that by reducing the number of veterans in the league, there will be more young players available for NBA teams.
* January 18, 2000 - For the first time in three years, the CBA holds an All-Star Game. The Sioux Falls SkyForce hosts the event. The All-Star Game also features an All-Rookie game, featuring the CBA's top 16 rookies.
* March 2000 - the NBA offers Thomas $11 million and a percentage of the profits for the CBA. Thomas chose not to sell the league to the NBA. "The NBA made an offer that wasn't what Isiah expected," said Brendan Suhr, a former coach and co-owner of the CBA's Grand Rapids Hoops, "so he decided not to sell the league at that time."
* May 2000 - a CBA All-Star team travels to China for a three-game series.
* June 28, 2000 - Isiah Thomas is offered the head coaching job of the NBA's Indiana Pacers. Since the NBA rules forbid a coach from owning his own league, as it would be a conflict of interest (he could sign the minor league's best players to his NBA team, for example), Thomas has to sell the CBA. On this day, Thomas signs a letter of intent to sell the CBA to the NBA Players' Union.
* In the summer of 2000, after twenty years of using the CBA as its developmental league, the NBA announces it will form its own minor league feeder system, creating the NBA Development League. The CBA will no longer be the NBA's official developmental league after the 2001 season.
* On October 2, 2000, Isiah Thomas, unable to sell his ownership in the CBA, places the league into a blind trust, and accepts the head coaching job of the Pacers. With the league in a blind trust, there are no funds available to pay players, to buy plane tickets for away games, or to handle day-to-day operations.
* February 8, 2001 - the CBA suspends play and folds. The blind trust that was to find a new owner for the league gives up. The league has over $2 million in debts. The teams are offered back to their original owners for $1.00, simple consideration. A few owners take the offer. Many more refuse and their clubs are shuttered.
* February 24, 2001 - 18 months after Thomas purchased the CBA, the league declared bankruptcy. Five of the former CBA team owners repurchased their franchises and joined the rival International Basketball League (IBL) to finish out the season. Other team owners chose to let their franchises fold completely, rather than reincur debts that were not theirs originally.
* Summer 2001 - The IBL folds.
* November 2001 - The CBA reorganizes for the 2001-02 season, as CBA franchises in Rockford, Gary, Grand Rapids and Sioux Falls merge with the smaller International Basketball Association (IBA), with franchises in Bismarck (Dakota Wizards), Fargo (Fargo-Moorhead Beez) and Saskatoon (Saskatchewan Hawks). The Flint (Mich.) Fuze joining as an expansion team.


The popular scapegoat for the demise of the CBA is Isiah Thomas, who purchased the CBA and ran it as a single-entity league, only to abandon it a year later for an NBA coaching job.

Exactly!!!


:mad: :puke: :grr:

[joeybee12]

6. Oh my...sort makes what he did in NYC...

...fairly tame. What a d**k. :puke:

The really scary thing is that he'll emerge somewhere else at some point and cause pain, havoc and heartbreak again!