In the Knick of Crime

ESPN's Sports Guy (Bill Simmons) breaks down IsiahGate as only he can. For example:

Q: Considering the Knicks have thrown money around like a drunken billionaire at a strip joint over the past seven years, why didn't they pay off Browne Sanders so none of these seedy allegations saw the light of day?

A: That's a great question. I'm glad I asked it. For an accuser in a sports-related sexual harassment trial, Browne Sanders has strong credentials: She's a former college basketball star at Northwestern, a married mother of three children and one of the few notable African-American female executives in professional sports. Even if her allegations were proven to be false, the last thing the Knicks needed was a potentially damaging and embarrassing trial, especially when they could have settled with Browne Sanders for half the money it cost to buy out Rose.

Of course, when James Dolan is involved, all semblance of logic has to be thrown out the window. (If they ever build The Incompetent Legacy Kid Hall of Fame, he'll get in on the first ballot.) Other than stubbornly refusing to settle with Browne Sanders, Dolan's biggest mistake was the way he allegedly reacted with the actual firing: Once MSG's VP for human resources, Rusty McCormack, told Dolan over the telephone that Browne Sanders was impeding his investigation, Dolan flipped out during a helicopter trip and terminated her contract almost immediately -- without getting advice from MSG's legal counsel first. As Jimmy explained in his video deposition, "All decisions at the Garden, I make on my own," and "I specifically did not consult with counsel. I felt that the overall health of the Garden was in jeopardy here, and that would overrule any opinion of counsel."

(Yeah, why would you want to consult with your legal team before firing a high-ranking African-American female executive who's claiming that your high-profile GM sexually harassed her? What a waste of time! By the way, I'm calling Dolan "Jimmy" for the rest of this column on the off-chance he ends up reading it. He just seems like the kind of guy who would get upset when someone calls him "Jimmy" instead of "James.")

Now before people say, "Look at that smile; Isiah's a nice guy!" remember that this is the same guy who couldn't come to terms with Jordan's Bulls asurping his Pistons as the "Team to Beat" in the East, and he aslo made that "if he was a black guy comment" about Larry Bird.

Oh yeah, and if the Knicks didn't have enough problems: Zack Randolph reported to training camp overweight...again.