Fuck Dolan and Isiah!

from ESPN.com

The New York Knicks fired coach Larry Brown on Thursday, replacing him as coach with president and general manager Isiah Thomas.

Larry Brown timeline
Years Team Record
72-74 Carolina Cougars 104-64
74-79 Denver Nuggets 251-134
79-81 UCLA Bruins 42-17
81-83 New Jersey Nets 91-67
83-88 Kansas Jayhawks 135-44
88-91 San Antonio Spurs 153-131
91-93 Los Angeles Clippers 64-53
93-97 Indiana Pacers 190-138
97-03 Philadelphia 76ers 255-205
03-05 Detroit Pistons 108-56
05-06 New York Knicks 23-59

Brown's future had been in question since reports surfaced last month that owner James Dolan wanted to buy out his contract. The Knicks finished 23-59, tying the franchise record for losses, in Brown's first season.

On Thursday, Dolan made the switch official.

"Larry has had a long and storied career. We hired him last summer with the expectation that he would be with the Knicks for a long time. Sometimes decisions work and sometimes they don't," Dolan said. "After careful consideration, despite the best intentions from everyone involved, this current structure did not work for us last season and I did not think it was going to improve next season."

Thomas, who joined the Knicks as president and general manager on Dec. 22, 2003, previously served as a head coach with the Indiana Pacers for three seasons from 2000-01 through 2002-03. His Pacers teams were 131-115 record, making the playoffs in each of his three seasons.

"No one in our organization is happy with last season and we all accept responsibility for our performance," Thomas said. "This has been a difficult time for the entire organization and our fans. Today begins the 2006-07 season for the Knicks, and I strongly believe we are on the right track to take major steps in our rebuilding process to achieve our goal of being one of the premier teams in the NBA."

Brown's worst seasons as NBA coach
Team Record Season w/team Next season with team
'88-89 Spurs 21-61 First 56-26*
'05-06 Knicks 23-59 First Fired
'97-98 76ers 31-51 First 28-22*
*Made playoffs

Buying out Brown, who signed a deal with the Knicks amid much hoopla last July, taking over what he then called a "dream job," could cost the team as much as $40 million.

Brown wanted the team to overhaul the roster that Thomas had assembled and feuded openly with star Stephon Marbury.

The coach perplexed his players and eventually lost their support by constantly switching lineups and rotations, never quite settling on any set combination over the course of the 82-game season. His penchant for making thinly veiled criticisms of his players through the media irked his players nearly as much as it bothered the team's corporate owners at Cablevision.

Despite the players' and management's strangely rosy pronouncements on the day after the season ended, all was certainly not well inside the franchise. One of Brown's final moves that left several key people scratching their heads was his use (or non-use) of Steve Francis and Jalen Rose after they were acquired at midseason.

Brown received a $7 million buyout with the Pistons in July 2005 after Detroit owner Bill Davidson also came to the realization that he'd be better off with a different coach. The divorce of the Pistons and Brown also turned into a bitter breakup.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

say what?

this gets my vote for most inevitable sports news item of the year.

I heard it described as "the best worst kept secret in sports"

The Knicks are getting what they deserve and Isiah is getting what he wants.

Seriously, unless Don Stern can somehow convince LeBron to go there, that franchise is doomed for the foreseeable future.

I'm glad he is getting his $40 million and didnt take a buy out. screw dolan

whose decision was it to have 2 of the most selfish guards in the L on the same team? I'm assuming brown's but if it wasn't they should just mow down that whole front office.

that was all isiah. i seem to recall brown not really agreeing with a number of those moves.

yeah, how isiah keeps work is generally beyond me. They should bring bob knight into the pros just to verbally abuse him and kick him around.

Isiah Thomas is a bitch. He's one of the main reasons they have a super talented team with too many egos and no cohesion. I'm not a big fan of Larry Brown, but his method tends to succeed when he has the support he needs and he fails miserably when he steps into a no-win situation with little support.
I think the Knicks were gutless and weak for not asking for his input on the draft. I'm guessing Brown either demanded they fire him or allow him to do his freaking job.

and their record will be even worse next year.

That's what Tragic used to call him as well during their tender moments...

Finally? Wasn't he only there one season (or was it two)?

One can only hope that Isiah gets what he deserves, a Carlissimo-style slap from Marbury around game 4.

Meanwhile, Larry counts the money. For a long, long time.

i used to like the knicks

back in the days of derek harper and john starks

ewing finger rolls that had to fail

LJ for 3 and the foul...

thanks for the memories reggie jordon and michael miller.

kenny 'sky' walker