Given that James Dolan and Isiah Thomas are partners not only in bad basketball but also a federal sexual harassment verdict in favor of Anucha Browne Sanders, one theory is that yesterday's $11.5-million settlement pulled Thomas' safety net right out from under him.
Thomas certainly is beginning to act as though that's the case, getting into some verbal sparring with fans behind the Knicks' bench during last night's 99-89 loss to the Mavericks. Earlier, he butted heads with a reporter, saying during the pregame media session, "Can you sit down? I don't like it when you stand over me like that."
The legal theory about Thomas' status goes like this: Because Dolan has no more legal obligation to Thomas, he can judge him on his job performance alone. That is why the most ominous sentence in all the statements released by the various parties last night was the bit from MSG about "focusing on basketball." Maybe that's why Isiah was in such a bad mood yesterday. (...)
