HAD Isiah Thomas limited his harsh opinion of Greg Anthony’s critical comments on ESPN about the Knicks’ preference of Renaldo Balkman at No. 20 overall (over Marcus Williams, for instance), in last June’s draft, he’d be well within his rights as team president and prime pusher of the seemingly peculiar pick.
After all, as Thomas underlined Wednesday to the Knicks’ brow-beaten writers, he’s pretty sure the NBA analyst never had seen the South Carolina swingman play when he spearheaded the widespread belittling of Balkman’s selection on the network’s national draft show.
How did Anthony (and nearly every other roundball reviewer) know Balkman didn’t deserve being taken in the middle of the first round? What made him so sure the Knicks could’ve gotten Balkman on the second round or as an undrafted free agent when five or six teams thought enough of him to arrange individual workouts?
What made Anthony so sure the Knicks had bungled the pick? The league’s talent scouts hadn’t thought enough of Balkman to include him in their thumbnails of what they considered the top draft candidates. That’s the only reasonable answer. Balkman’s name was nowhere to be found, and that made him and Thomas easy targets for Anthony & the rest of the Imperials.
Given Thomas’ first-round draft track record with the Raptors (Damon Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady and Marcus Camby), I don’t blame him one bit for calling out Anthony.
It would’ve been a lot more impressive, though, had Thomas ripped him right away and not waited until Balkman’s passion plays and all-around donations (averaging eight points, 5.7 rebounds in 53 minutes of three games) had elevated him into a Garden crowd pleaser.
Truth is, I’m unsure Anthony’s criticism is what detonated Thomas’ time bomb months later. I suspect the real reason he’s been steaming all these months is because Anthony accused him of setting up Balkman and Mardy Collins (No. 29) with 3-year guarantee contracts in order to make nice with agent Leon Rose, agent for both, who also happens to represent, ahem, LeBron James.
As you recall, speculation was rampant at the time that the Cavs’ franchise player might not extend his contract and thus would be an unrestricted to sign with New York, where he could make even more of an advertising killing than he is currently, after two more seasons. Shortly thereafter, James re-enlisted with the Cavs for five more seasons.
Is Thomas bent out of shape because Anthony figured out what he was up to; smart business, in my book. In fact, I thought the exact same thing when Thomas signed Jamal Crawford and Vin Baker, clients of Aaron Goodwin, who also happened to represent James at that moment.
Or is Thomas seething at Anthony for exposing his intentions and they failed to pay off? That is, at least in the short run. A high-level league source dropped me an e-mail a couple weeks after James re-upped and declared he believed James would opt out early from at the approved time (after 2011-12 season) and join the Knicks.
Put that prediction in a safe and bury it. In the meantime, feel free to quote me on it. I’ll be long retired by the time I’m proven right or wrong.
In any event, had Thomas left his Anthony rant-dition at that, we could be going on to something more significant. But, due to some unknown motive, he felt compelled to claim he was being unfair to the organization.
Because Anthony once played for the Knicks, Thomas believes he shouldn’t say anything negative about the Knicks. It doesn’t get anymore illogical, or outlandish. And that’s coming from the brain of a man who played, coached, managed and worked for NBC as an NBA broadcaster.
“That really surprised me,” stated Mark Jackson. Reached by cell phone, the ex-Knick (and six other teams) and current ESPN/ABC colleague of Anthony, said it surprised him because, “Isiah knows how to say the right thing. He usually protects himself. It makes me think this is personal.
“Come on, Isiah understands Greg has a job to do, just as I do. If you’re bad, you’re bad. I’m an ex-Pacer as much as an ex-Knick, but when Ron Artest went into the stands, I took him to task. At the end of the day, we’re all held accountable as professionals.
“Reggie Miller played longer for the Pacers than Isiah did for the Pistons and a lot longer than Greg did with the Knicks. But it didn’t stop him from condemning the organizations and Stephen Jackson. He knows he can’t sugar-coat it or else I, for one, will turn the channel.
“What’s Greg supposed to do? He’s covering the whole NBA. Is he only supposed to speak his mind about teams he never played for, or players he’s not friends with? Greg can’t have any allegiance to the Knicks, or any other organization. His loyalty is to the people who pay him and his audience, and must he react to different topics according to what he knows, feels and believes.
“That’s why this has to be personal. Isiah was part of the media. If he went on TV and didn’t tell the truth about the Pistons, I’d be very disappointed in him as a person. In this business, you can’t pick your spots to be sincere and up front. That’s the first thing you’re taught, the first thing you learn. At the end of the day, people have to respect you for telling the truth, at least your version of it. You’ve got to be true to yourself.”