http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/07/sports/basketball/07araton.html?_r=1&hpIsiah Thomas is back with the Knicks, but what does it mean?
Florida International Coach Isiah Thomas will consult the Knicks, who fired him two years ago.It means that whatever one thinks of Thomas and the work he did as the Knicks’ chief executive and coach, he remains the most dynamic little man in N.B.A. history, the most credentialed Knicks employee since Pat Riley.
It means that in the ascendant sports culture of super-elite travel teams and powerhouse high school programs seeking mythical national championships, résumés do matter.
Who are you? the young ones want to know of the men who will spoil them in return for their dribbling services. Where have you been? What have you won?
If the summer of N.B.A. free agency taught us anything, it is that the era of the autocratic franchise player made famous by Michael Jordan and his subordinate Jordanaires has ended. In its place has emerged a merger mentality, a willingness to share control of the kingdom, powerfully illustrated when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh heeled in Miami last month at the bejeweled hand of Riley.
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I guess that is good news for the rest of the Atlantic Conference!