Four Years Gone

Scott Layden was a terrible GM, but he has been completely
overshadowed by the Isiah Thomas crapfest.

December 22, 2003 - a date which will live in infamy for Knicks fans - was four years gone on Saturday. Do you remember where you were when Isiah Thomas was hired as the Knickerbockers' new general manager?

I remember exactly how I learned the news. Sitting at the kitchen table, home from college for winter break, my brother came storming into the room and announced the tidbit he had just gleaned from the internet: Scott Layden, the maddeningly quiet and shady presence in the luxury box had finally been fired. His four-year reign of idiocy as GM of the Knicks was finally over. It was a span that had seen New York transformed from a perennial contender into a yearly also-ran, and Layden, a product of NBA nepotism with the Utah Jazz, was gone. My heart filled with joy.

A second later, my brother delivered the crushing letdown: Isiah Thomas had been hired as the new replacement. Rarely has such sheer exultation and utter despair coexisted so closely in consecutive moments. Neither the Knicks nor I have recovered since that fateful day.

Above, from left to right, Isiah Thomas, James Dolan and Steve Mills, the Garden's President of Sports Operations, pose together after Thomas was hired as the new Knicks GM in 2003. The team has been a catastrophe ever since.

I knew my team was in big trouble immediately. Isiah's track record spoke for itself: complete failure at every job he took since hanging up his jersey (and that, of course, is a long, woeful tale for another time).

Since then, my worst fears have been confirmed. The execrable on-court product of the Layden era has now become an embarrassment to the city in almost all areas of the organization.

The biggest surprise is how much patience the fans have given Isiah, who seems to survive at times merely thanks to the sleazy charm of the bullshit, pasted-on uber-smile that has obviously melted James Dolan's heart.

Layden got four years, and that was probably two years too long for that dipshit. Now Isiah has passed that mark and appears secure for the future despite recently earning his 201st loss in New York.

Hasn't it been enough? When will the suffering end?