Add Florida International to the list of things Isiah Thomas has failed at in recent years.
Effectively running the Knicks, the Continental Basketball Association and now FIU have all proved beyond his capabilities.
Thomas was fired by FIU on Friday after going 26-65 in three seasons.
“We want to thank Isiah Thomas for his three years here at FIU,” executive director of sports and entertainment Pete Garcia said. “However, we have decided to take the program in a different direction.”
Now that he’s back on the market, expect there to be renewed rumors about him re-joining the Knicks in some capacity since owner Jim Dolan considers Thomas a trusted lieutenant and used him to recruit Amar’e Stoudemire (successfully) and LeBron James (unsuccessfully).
The specter of Thomas’ role with the Knicks irked Donnie Walsh when he was running the team, and close friends suggested Walsh should walk after Dolan made the deal for Carmelo Anthony against Walsh’s wishes.
“While Isiah Thomas is a good friend of mine, a very good friend of mine, he was not at all involved in this process,” Dolan told reporters after the trade. “He wasn’t advising me or telling me what to do in any way and any reports that imply that he was doing that are simply untrue and a fiction in somebody’s mind.”
Thomas is still intertwined with the Knicks.
He and Knicks interim head coach Mike Woodson were teammates on Indiana’s 1981 national championship team under Bob Knight. Knicks interim GM Glen Grunwald was also on the team, and Thomas reportedly recently had dinner with Woodson and Grunwald when the Knicks were in Miami. Thomas also hired Knicks assistant Darrell Walker to coach the Toronto Raptors when Thomas ran that franchise.
Photo: US Presswire
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