Good Luck Donnie Walsh … You’re Gonna Need It
Covering the New York Knicks back in the day was always a fun assignment when Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason and John Starks defended the paint at Madison Square Garden. Head coach Pat Riley made the team see the big picture: play as a team, win as a team.
I even had the privilege of covering the Knicks during Red Holzman’s tenure when I was doing a story on former St. John’s star Mel Davis. It was to be a positive piece on Davis and when I asked the revered coach about his young stud, he said, basically, he has a chance to be good in something other than basketball and he wasn’t smiling when he said it.
Now we fast forward to the debacle better known as the Morass on 33rd Street, aka the Knicks circa Isiah Thomas. The president of the club has been replaced by former Indiana Pacers’ CEO Donnie Walsh, who is now calling the basketball shots at MSG. When the season ends, hopefully, Walsh will show Thomas the door and change the locks.
The once-proud franchise is now the laughing stock of the NBA with Thomas, the head coach in charge.
He may have a talent for discovering college players with some skills like forwards David Lee, Wilson Chandler and Renaldo Balkman, guards Mardy Collins and Nate Robinson and center Randolph Morris.
Meanwhile, his trades and acquisition of NBA players? Well, not so good.
With a combination of center Eddie (Soft Boy) Curry, forwards Jared (I’ve Forgotten How To Play D) Jeffries, Quentin (Can’t Shoot) Richardson, Zack (I’ve Never Seen A Shot I Didn’t Like) Randolph and guards Jamal (I’ve Never Seen A Shot I Didn’t Like Either) Crawford, it’s no wonder this is a team that can’t, won’t play together and Thomas is the man to blame. Don’t forget he also signed hapless center Jerome (Dolly Parton) James (or Big Bust, take your pick). Then there’s guard Stephon Marbury who … oh, never mind.
You brought these guys in and they won’t play for you? The former leader of the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons can’t get his point across? You are one of the NBA’s greatest players with an NCAA title and two NBA championships to your credit and this bunch of underachievers won’t listen to you? What in the name of Bill Laimbeer is going on here?
Walsh, a Bronx native like myself, is in this rebuilding mode for the very long haul. He wants to clear cap space and sign big name free agents … assuming they want to come to New York in the first place.
At 67, can Walsh expect to see the fruits of his labor? He’s getting a three-year, $15-million guaranteed contract, huge air time on the MSG Network, the lure of New York City and he could still be as ineffective as the previous regimes under Scott Layden and Thomas.
Would somebody mention my name to Knicks’ owner James Dolan? I’d like the next shot at screwing up the Knicks and I don’t need 20 mill. Ten would suffice.