Isiah Thomas Returns to New York Knicks Board of Directors After Business Split
Isiah Thomas is returning to the New York Knicks as a board member of the newly formed MSG Knickerbockers Corp following a business split from the Rangers.
Isiah Thomas is returning to the New York Knicks, this time to the boardroom. The former club president and coach will join the new board of directors of MSG Knickerbockers Corp, the company that will manage the Knicks and the Westchester Knicks development team.
The move comes as part of a business split between the Knicks and the New York Rangers. MSG Sports announced that the two teams will be separated into two distinct public companies, with James Dolan serving as chairman and CEO of both. Thomas, who has long been considered one of Dolan's close associates, will sit on the board of directors of the company overseeing the Knicks.
For New York fans, Thomas's return may reopen many memories from a particularly difficult era. The Knicks appointed him as president of basketball operations in 2003, and for the following four seasons, they failed to return to the playoffs. During his tenure, the team never won more than 33 games in a season, finishing the 2005-06 campaign with a 23-59 record.
In 2006, Thomas was also appointed as the team's head coach, holding both positions simultaneously for two seasons. The Knicks finished under him with records of 33-49 and 23-59 before he was fired as coach in 2008.
His time at the club was also accompanied by an off-court scandal. In 2006, a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against him by a senior MSG employee, and the company later reached an 11.5 million dollar settlement. Despite this, his relationship with Dolan remained strong in the following years.
Dolan even brought Thomas back to an official role in 2015, this time as coach of the WNBA's New York Liberty. Following the team's sale in 2019, he concluded his role there and later joined the board of directors of The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Now, after the Knicks won their first championship since 1973, Thomas is returning to an official role within the organization. At this stage, it remains unclear how much influence he will have on the basketball side, but the mere fact of his return to the system is expected to attract considerable attention in New York.
