Con job
Adrian Dantley's mother once referred to Isiah Thomas as "that little con-artist." This was after Thomas had run Dantley off of the Detroit Pistons so they could bring in Thomas' buddy Mark Aguirre, and claimed to have played no part in the affair. Since retiring as a player, Thomas has conned several NBA owners into letting him coach or manage their clubs with terrible results. Meanwhile, Thomas' old running mate (and Dantley's pal) Joe Dumars has become one of the most successful executives in the NBA.
Now, Thomas seems to have conned the league into not disciplining him for his role in instigating the 10 player brawl in a game involving his New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets. Players on both teams were hit with major suspensions, but NBA officials apparently bought Thomas' assertion that when he told Nuggets super-star Carmelo Anthony “Hey, don’t go to the basket right now. It wouldn’t be a good idea. I’m just letting you know,” he was merely suggesting that Anthony shouldn't run up the score.
As Jonathan Adler says, this claim "doesn't pass the laugh test, especially given Thomas' own history of sharp play." But it was good enough for David Stern.
UPDATE: Don't get me wrong. Thomas was provoked by the fact that Denver coach George Karl had left his regulars in the game to run up the score in what was already a rout. Supposedly, Karl was doing this as an act of solidarity with his fellow University of North Carolina alum Larry Brown, whom the Knicks had unceremoniously dumped after one year as their coach. But most of the guys suspended for fighting were provoked too.
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