Thomas' Uneven Post-Playing Career Now Tragicomic

This blog is entitled "Out of Bounds" because it is, I think, an accurate, sports-related term to describe my sometimes offbeat take on this wacky world of sports.

It is not, however, usually a space for me to speak on issues that are not only "out of bounds", but "out of my comfort zone."

I write about sports. It's not all I know, but it's what I write about. Because I know the subject matter, and it's fun as hell. As George Puscas, one of my idols, once wrote, "I don't know why anyone would want to write about anything other than sports."

But I need to get a little out of that comfort zone because Isiah Thomas won't let me stay comfortable.

I wasn't going to touch the latest Isiah story -- the allegations by a female former New York Knicks executive that Thomas sexually harassed her -- because I normally don't get into that kind of stuff. It's not a sports story, per se. Thomas is retired as a player, and instead of stealing basketballs on the court, he is stealing money as the brutally inept president of the Knicks.

But it's not going to go away, and Isiah is ratcheting up the denials, so here goes.

The former employee is a woman named Anucha Browne Sanders, who had been the Knicks' senior vice president of marketing and business operations.

According to the Associated Press, Browne Sanders filed a lawsuit Tuesday, saying she was fired last Thursday "for telling the truth" while going through internal channels to stop the harassment. She has accused Thomas of telling her he was "very attracted" to her and "in love" with her and tried to kiss her.


Did he or didn't he?


I guess whenever I read stories like this, I try to look at them pragmatically. I inevitably end up struggling to come up with reasons why a woman would put herself through the baloney that she has to endure in such an instance, if what she says happened didn't.

Money!

Really? This was a woman, Browne Sanders, who held a very high title with the Knicks. She was one of the highest-ranking black female executives in sports. It's doubtful money was something she was lacking, though I suppose anything is possible.

Smoke tends to portend fire. I must admit, whenever one of these stories boils to the surface, I tend to side with the woman. Have women made up these sorts of tales for some sort of personal gain, or for vengeance? Sure they have. There are always exceptions. But I have a hunch the percentages would be on my side if someone were to research how many were blatantly false and how many had a good deal of merit. Again, why put yourself through a legal and emotional and personal nightmare if what you're alleging is completely baseless?

Thomas, and he obviously isn't alone in this regard, has a dark side, folks have told me. Browne Sanders says that dark side can be downright abhorrent and a 180 degree opposite from the smiling cherub he purports to be.

In court documents, Browne Sanders said Thomas often berated her and made crude comments about her to Knicks officials, telling them not to listen to any of her directions. She also charged that last month, he hugged and tried to kiss her, and when she pulled away, he said, "What, I can't get any love from you today?"

Thomas, for his part, is vehemently denying the allegations, which turned into a lawsuit claiming the Knicks -- Thomas especially -- fired her when she tried to funnel her complaints through the proper channels. But what else is he going to do? You always deny -- right, guys? Right up to the bitter end.

Thomas apparently has support from others inside Madison Square Garden.

MSG chairman James Dolan, through spokesman Barry Watkins, said he has "total confidence in the long-term strategy of the management team."

Whatever the hell that means. Funny how he didn't say he has "total confidence that these allegations are false and without base for truth."

Again, where there's smoke....