MIKE FRATELLO has had better days.
Even in defeat.
Losing to the Celtics in Game 7 of the ’88 playoffs, or getting swept by the Knicks in the first round of ’96, or being fired after the ’99 season may not have been as depressing as the last two days.
In rapid sequence, Fratello got beaten out for the Knicks head coaching job by Lenny Wilkens then got beat up badly by the New York media, especially the Daily News.
Instead of being repentant for wrongfully proclaiming Fratello as Don Chaney’s successor, the News excused its writers’ misinformation by accusing Fratello of being accountable for negotiations breaking down with Isiah Thomas “because New York was not willing to give Fratello a 3-year contract.”
Meanwhile, Wilkens, 66, 10 years older than Fratello, got three years guaranteed with a team option for a fourth.
The New York Times advanced that inaccuracy, stating that an Eastern Conference official said Fratello made exorbitant contract demands, both in control over player-personnel decisions and in salary. In addition, the Times speculated, “It is believed that he demanded more than the $5 million he was to have made in his last season in Cleveland.”
Fratello’s response: “What a great statement! How stupid! Yeah, right, before I even get the job I have a problem with my boss. Un-bleepin’ real!”
According to a News source, “In the end, Mike didn’t want to work for Isiah because he knows that Isiah is eventually going to take over as head coach.”
Fratello’s mood fluctuated between outrage and despair throughout a phone conversation yesterday.
“Why would they make up such stuff?” Fratello fumed from his Marriott hotel room in Salt Lake City, where he was broadcasting last night’s Miami-Utah game. “Why would someone do such a thing?
“Everything they’ve written is a total lie. I told [News beat writer] Frank Isola not to go with the story when he called me in Sacramento. I told him I didn’t have the job, as far as I knew. I told him I didn’t want him to be wrong, but he went with it anyway.
“Then they come back the next day and say I killed it. What a crock of [bleep]!” Fratello said. “There never were any negotiations.
“We never talked about a penny, a day, or responsibility.
“I went to sleep that night thinking I was still in the race and woke up with 38 cell-phone messages [on two phones] of congratulations, or anger than I hadn’t confided in my kids and parents.”
Even after confronting Daily News NBA columnist Mitch Lawrence via phone yesterday, Fratello still couldn’t figure out why the paper went with the story authored by Lawrence. Or why Fratello wasn’t quoted saying what he told Isola instead of being quoted as saying, “No comment.”
“Lawrence apologized,” Fratello said. “He told me maybe he should have made the call himself. That something might have been lost in translation. I had told Isola not to write something wrong about me.
“It’s been hard enough to fight perceptions about my alleged style of coaching. All people talk about is the Cavs’ 60-point games, but no one even mentions the 108-point games in Atlanta. You play differently to fit your talent. The year we got swept by the Knicks we started out 0-7 trying to run and switched gears when it was obvious we couldn’t compete that way. We wound up winning 47 games and finishing in fourth place in the East, a slot ahead of the Knicks.
“I’ve had to live with this for five years and now, for this to happen? It’s brutally unfair. I’m getting killed on talk radio and in the papers because of the way I coach! Because I allegedly held out for more years and didn’t want to work for Isiah! It’s not right.”
Fratello was asked if the Knicks’ head coaching job was ever offered to him? “No. We talked about it. That’s all. Isiah called me 10 minutes before the press conference and told me they were hiring Lenny. I started to ask him about his decision and he said, ‘We’ll talk when we can talk face to face.’ Until we have that opportunity I’m going to leave it at that.
“Believe me, these are two days you wouldn’t want to deal with. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am.”