Larry Brown Fired by NY Knicks - Thomas to Coach team

The New York Knicks finally ended their relationship with Head Coach Larry Brown after only 1 season today. Read the full story hereThe interesting thing to watch from the business side is that LB signed a 5-year $50M dollar deal with the Knicks when he left the Detroit Pistons last summer. Brown and his agent Joel Glass claim the Knicks owe Brown $40M since they fired him. The Knicks are claiming that they don't intend to pay Brown the full $40M and are looking for a smaller figure to settle on. NBA Commissioner David Stern will end up serving as the arbitrator between the Knicks and Larry Brown and the Knicks have said they will pay the figure Stern deems fair. Will Stern side with the Knicks or will he rule in favor of Larry Brown? Stay tuned.The other interesting part of this story is that Isiah Thomas is Brown's replacement on the sidelines. Thomas has a career coaching mark of 131-115 including 5-10 in the playoffs. Thomas coached the Indiana Pacers for 3 seasons. Many think putting Thomas on the sidelines is James Dolan's (Knicks owner) way of telling Thomas You Built this Team as the GM Now Go Coach This Bunch". If Thomas does not succeed in turning the Knicks around this season Dolan will likely fire Thomas as well. The Knicks have the highest payroll in the NBA at $120M which means they are paying millions in luxury tax (for being over the salary cap) for being one of the worst teams in the league. With a mediocre roster no lottery pick and high priced players who are not attractive to other NBA teams Thomas has his work cut out for him - as GM and now the Head Coach. "

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