Billy, Wait! A Better Job Will Be Opening Soon

Laimbeer can coach, as his WNBA title proved


I see where Bill Laimbeer is getting more and more serious in his discussions with Knicks boss Isiah Thomas about coaching in the Big Apple.

Lams, one word: WAIT!

You don't want to coach the Knicks, and you especially don't want to work for Thomas, the 16-ton weight of the NBA. Everything Isiah has touched in his post-playing career has turned to stone. He is the anti-Midas.

I know you're eager to coach in the NBA, Billy, but PLEASE exhibit some patience. You're too busy coaching the WNBA's Shock, anyway, to be thinking about the Knicks or any NBA team. Swin Cash, Ruth Riley and Deanna Nolan need you more than Isiah or anyone else in the men's game, for the moment. Anyhow, a better job, for you, is sure to open up soon anyway.

The Pistons will have a vacancy, no question, as soon as the NBA Finals are wrapped up, and despite those reports that say ex-Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders is the frontrunner to land in Detroit, you are an intriguing option for Joe Dumars and Bill Davidson. You are a local hero, a la Dumars, and you have proven you can coach a bit, thanks to your Shock ladies. You know what the "Bad Boys" and tough defense are all about, and you know how important Pistons basketball is to the scheme of things here. You found that out sitting next to George Blaha and analyzing all those Pistons games on TV. You know the deal here, babe. You could make a serious run at winning the coaching job in Detroit/Auburn Hills.

So why not chill, cool your jets for a bit, and wait for Dumars to come calling?

The Knicks job would be a disaster. Isiah's clue free, despite all those overly nice things you said about him and his personnel decision-making abilities. You wouldn't get a warm and fuzzy welcome there, not that you ever needed that. But the job is tough enough without the fans on your side, so why make it tougher? I know you like and respect your old teammate Zeke but come on, the guy is flying a rickety ship and you don't want to go down with him and torpedo what could be a promising NBA coaching career, do you? In Detroit you'd have a far better chance of success, which means you'd be well on your way to being a fixture on NBA sidelines -- in Detroit or elsewhere.

If Larry Brown returns as Pistons coach next season I'll cut the net down at the Palace and swallow it whole. It ain't happening, so why not wait and see what Joe D. and Mr. D. have to offer? If Flip gets the job after all, so be it, but chances are Isiah will still need a coach at that point, although I still wouldn't take the Knicks job if I were you. If not Detroit, then another, more stable NBA team will come calling, don't you fret. You're gonna coach in the NBA, that's for certain.

So patience, Lams, patience. Don't be blinded by the bright lights and false allure of Broadway and the Garden. Their glare is only hiding the reality of a dim and doomed future on the Knicks bench.