Larry Brown said he’ll be back. Stephon Marbury said he’ll be back. Isiah Thomas said he’ll be back.
Wonderful.
Coming off a 23-59 catastrophe, the three-headed monster that guided Team Titanic into the ground vowed to return and make it better.
Breaking a seven-day silence, Brown said his latest medical woes won’t hinder his return for a second season and claims he wants to “retire” as a Knick. Of course, Brown made that claim in Detroit, too.
“I said that in Detroit. I wasn’t in control of that,” Brown said. “I’m sure I want to retire here. I want to fulfill my contract. I want to stay involved as long as they’d have me. I knew when I took the job, I was excited about the opportunity. After being here a year, even though we won 23 games and there were tough difficult times, I’m more excited about continuing.”
It’s hard to trust anything you hear anymore coming from Knick land. Brown stated yesterday he had the flu the past few days and the Knicks wanted him to stay away. However, the Knicks had claimed over the past few days, including in a press release, that Brown was “cleared” to coach and they were waiting on him. “Lisa (Callahan) was being cautious and told me to stay away,” Brown said. “Isiah told me to stay away. When he gave me permission to come back, I came back.”
Thomas, in breaking a two-month silence, said Brown will return as coach but admitted he was not pleased with Brown’s performance. “I think our players are better and I think our coach is better,” Thomas said. “I don’t think our record is indicative of the type of coach he is or the type of coach he has been. That being said, we still have 23 wins. Something went wrong.
Over the summer, Larry and I will figure it out.”
Thomas also said his own job is safe and won’t fire the Hall of Famer.
“We haven’t considered making a change because of his history,” Thomas said. “He may not want to hear this, but outside Detroit and Indiana, he starts slow. He’s a slow starter. He picks up steam and players start doing what he wants him to do. I think that will be the case here.”
Each Knick held separate exit meetings with Thomas and Brown. Marbury, who has feuded with the Knicks coach, said yesterday he had a terrific meeting with Brown during which he told him he “made me a better man.” Marbury also revealed Brown told him he’d trade him for “Kobe Bryant” but not for “junk”, so he expects to stay.
However, Thomas did not give Marbury a similar vote of confidence and admitted he wanted to suspend Marbury after his caustic comments about Brown but the Knicks coach wouldn’t let him. When asked if Marbury will be traded – and Minnesota has interest – Thomas said: “I am loyal to winning. I am not loyal to any singular individual. If we can make our team better, then I’m going to do what I need to do. If that means trading two, three, four players, I want to win. I’m committed to that. That’s my only agenda. Winning basketball players.”
But for a playoff run with Phoenix, Marbury has not won since his Minnesota days and that’s the team still interested in bringing him back.
Isiah also warned that he does not want a repeat of the sniping in the papers and it wasn’t just Brown and Marbury. It was several players.
“I don’t think there’s ever a time a player and coach should be in the newspaper going at each other,” Thomas said. “Hopefully, that won’t happen again. The coach is always right even if he isn’t.”
Brown said he would change. “I’m probably one of the fortunate ones,” Brown said. “You win 23 games and still have a job. They’ve invested a lot in me. I don’t think coaching in New York, there’s a situation anybody can train you.”
Brown minimized his health woes, even saying he may not undergo another bladder surgery in a week as he had thought. Brown will have more tests, though. Brown said his family has a history of heart disease, which is why this acid reflux episode prompted a Cleveland hospital visit to make sure he wasn’t having a heart attack. Brown also mysteriously said the Knicks thought his flu could be something more severe but didn’t elaborate.
