Walsh open to taking control of Knicks
BY KEN BERGER | kenneth.berger@newsday.com
10:27 PM EST, November 19, 2007
GREENBURGH, N.Y. - If the season spirals away from Isiah Thomas and he is fired, one of his former bosses would be interested in replacing him.
Donnie Walsh, who is leaving the Indiana Pacers after the season to pursue another high-level front-office job, "certainly would be open" to joining the Knicks with full control over the basketball operations, someone with knowledge of his thinking said Monday.
"It's New York, and he loves New York and he loves this league," the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Walsh, 66, has been with the Pacers for 23 years and willingly has ceded control to Larry Bird. Having played high school ball in New York City before going to North Carolina to play for Frank McGuire, Walsh would be among the most credible candidates to take over the Knicks if Thomas is unable to save his job.
"He's very open-minded about things," the person familiar with Walsh's thinking said. "He welcomes a challenge, and obviously wherever he goes, he's going to have to have significant control of the organization."
With Garden chairman James Dolan's power apparently not waning, basketball control could be a sticking point for Walsh or another often-mentioned candidate to run the Knicks, former Suns CEO Jerry Colangelo.
Though Dolan has no plans to fire Thomas now, there is no sure way to predict how he will react if the losing spirals out of control. The most likely moves if Dolan makes a midseason change would be to promote Glen Grunwald to interim general manager and longtime assistant Herb Williams to interim coach.
The housecleaning would come next summer, with the Walsh angle presenting the possibility that Thomas could be replaced as coach by Rick Carlisle for the second time in his career. Carlisle, hired as the Pacers' coach after Bird and Walsh fired Thomas in 2003, currently is doing TV work. One league source Monday called Carlisle a "plausible" choice as coach if Walsh succeeded Thomas as president.
BY KEN BERGER | kenneth.berger@newsday.com
10:27 PM EST, November 19, 2007
GREENBURGH, N.Y. - If the season spirals away from Isiah Thomas and he is fired, one of his former bosses would be interested in replacing him.
Donnie Walsh, who is leaving the Indiana Pacers after the season to pursue another high-level front-office job, "certainly would be open" to joining the Knicks with full control over the basketball operations, someone with knowledge of his thinking said Monday.
"It's New York, and he loves New York and he loves this league," the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Walsh, 66, has been with the Pacers for 23 years and willingly has ceded control to Larry Bird. Having played high school ball in New York City before going to North Carolina to play for Frank McGuire, Walsh would be among the most credible candidates to take over the Knicks if Thomas is unable to save his job.
"He's very open-minded about things," the person familiar with Walsh's thinking said. "He welcomes a challenge, and obviously wherever he goes, he's going to have to have significant control of the organization."
With Garden chairman James Dolan's power apparently not waning, basketball control could be a sticking point for Walsh or another often-mentioned candidate to run the Knicks, former Suns CEO Jerry Colangelo.
Though Dolan has no plans to fire Thomas now, there is no sure way to predict how he will react if the losing spirals out of control. The most likely moves if Dolan makes a midseason change would be to promote Glen Grunwald to interim general manager and longtime assistant Herb Williams to interim coach.
The housecleaning would come next summer, with the Walsh angle presenting the possibility that Thomas could be replaced as coach by Rick Carlisle for the second time in his career. Carlisle, hired as the Pacers' coach after Bird and Walsh fired Thomas in 2003, currently is doing TV work. One league source Monday called Carlisle a "plausible" choice as coach if Walsh succeeded Thomas as president.
