I have a theory about Isiah Thomas. He is, I think, possibly the most intensely competitive athlete ever in professional sports. So intense in fact, that way beyond his salad days with the Detroit Pistons, he’s still determined to see his chief rivals lose in the NBA. I mean, how else do you explain what he’s doing to my beloved New York Knicks?
But before that, a brief explanation: This issue is close to my heart, and albeit the fact it’s not even mildly tech-related, it finds its way in my blog primarily via the “it’s my blog and I’ll write whatever I want” route, and also because of a dream I’ve had since I was a kid.
See, I’ve a simple, enduring dream – One day, I’ll go to New York to watch my beloved Knickerbockers play at Madison Square Garden”. On game day, I’d go down my hotel, and as I walk towards the Garden, someone, maybe a friend, the doorman, a cab driver, would see the smile on my face and ask, “hey, where you going?” And I’d say, “to the Garden.”, I’d say. “watch the Knicks play.”, and I’d know as he would too, that it would be a good day that day.
A simple dream really, something that’s stuck since high school, when everyone was going all agog over Jordan and the Bulls, I was with the Knicks. That doesn’t mean I love those guys. I thought Patrick Ewing was a choker. I though John Starks was over-eager and streaky. I thought Charles Oakley’s talent resembled an oak tree, and I can’t believe how bad someone can play when everything was on the line the way Charles Smith did against the Bulls in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, 1993.
But just like the old phrase goes about a team being stronger than the sum of its parts, I loved the Knicks because together, they were the bad boys in my era. While Jordan and Pippen lapped up the spotlight, I imagined Patrick and company all psyched up in the locker room, and come game time they literally pounced, and I mean grabbed, tied, beat up and just left for dead their opponents. You go into Madison Square Garden and you go to war. The demanding New York fans will pelt the opposing team with insults, spit at them as they go to the locker rooms, abuse their own players if they’re not up to par.
Then if you think the visitors have seen enough, the Knicks will pound them on the court – and that’s the way I thought basketball should be played. You should play like the bad guy, angry, beaten, bruised, hating the clean cut, sweet smelling good guys, and with little care for what the world will think of you when you’re through with them. You should play like the underdog – like the guys no one gives a chance to, the guys no expects to win. You can come into a game at 5’8 in height, and look 7 feet tall if you grind it out and knock the fight out of your opponent, and I promise you a win won’t taste any sweeter than that.
The post Ewing days took a turn for the worse, but that was ok. The memories still lingered, as high school memories tend to, and I still want to go to New York.
But since Isiah became General Manager, he’s loaded the highest payroll in the league ($130m), with some of the lowest, or at least fading, talents possible. Consider Penny Hardaway, Jerome Williams, Malik Rose, Tim Thomas, Jalen Rose. And lately, the most outrageous of all, Steve Francis. Think about it, if your team has backcourt run by two brand names like Stevie Franchise and Starbury (Stephon Marbury), how can you not be in trouble? Forget sharing the ball. Give them one apiece, as it’s the only way I see that working out.
However, Francis isn’t the issue here, it’s how Isiah Thomas has been running the team into the ground by loading it not just with questionable talent, but the enormous contracts he needs to fulfill that come along with them. Leave it to the quotable Shaquille O’Neal to break it down when he said “I’ll come down here when I’m 42, they’ll still pay me.”, and he’ll probably get a maximum deal at that.
target=”new” title=”kevin garnett”>And yes, I’m not counting out the fact that this is all a play to get , who’s going to be available for free agency come summer in the U.S. That’d be great, but until it all comes to fruition, I’m hoping Isiah Thomas’ extreme competitive streak won’t go against my dream of having a good day at the Garden one day.