About The Book

In December 2007, Forbes magazine reported the New York Knicks to be worth in excess of $600 million, by far the greatest of all 30 NBA franchises.  This vast wealth enabled the organization to spend many millions of dollars on a team the city could revel in.

It should have been an absolute dream to watch the Knicks.  Instead, it was a nightmare.

On the court, New York has lost 259 of 410 games [63%] from 2003-04 through 2007-08.  Off the court, the Knicks have somehow lost even more.

Larry Brown received $28 million, including $18 million in severance pay, for guiding the 2005-06 squad to a 23-59 season.  Isiah Thomas, who replaced Brown as coach, would later match his predecessor’s record, but only after enduring three anxious weeks as a co-defendant in a sexual harassment trial.

“Open Court” begins with the 2006-07 season.  Brown was just eradicated, and Thomas immediately assumed the role of head coach.  As Thomas had acquired each player on the roster, this was clearly his team.  There was no one more suited to run it.

Which he did.  Right into the ground.

Stephon Marbury, arguably New York’s most gifted player, was enthralled in yet another season of controversy, and starting line-ups were pieced together without rhyme or reason.

Whatever the Knicks tried was doomed to fail.

From top to bottom, the season was a disgrace.  Thomas was vilified in the press, and in front of the home crowd.  Certain members of the media openly admitted in a magazine article that the environment was brutal.  Once, Thomas’ post-game conference began so quickly [there is generally a 15-minute ‘cool down period’ afterward], only one radio reporter was there.

Only a member of the working press could accurately describe the typical game night.  What began with a routine pre-game conference soon evolved into snickering by the opposition -only too glad to see New York in such a sorry state- which would invariably lead to a number of “blanket quotes” issued by any Knick brave enough to face a microphone.

James Dolan, the team’s owner [and other co-defendant in Anucha Browne Sanders’ lawsuit] rarely attended the games.  When the Cablevision scion did travel in from his Long Island base, he simply ignored the press.

This particular saga needs to be recorded because it is easy to be blinded by the Knicks’ two world championships and/or the retired numbers which cascade freely from the rafters.  It has been more than 35 years since New York beat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 1973 title, and that dubious streak does not appear to be ending anytime soon.

In the fall of 2006, I began to write this manuscript, fairly certain that the sexual harassment trial would eventually take form.  I never believed that the two sides would agree to terms, though the Garden management would have greatly benefited from a settlement.

By September 2007, I was inside the courtroom.  While, on occasion, I did sit among various sports columnists, each of the major dailies had relied on their city desk reporter to cover the trial.  I was the only beat writer to attend on a regular basis and, as such, can offer a unique perspective.

I missed one day of the three-week procession, and that was only because September 11th is more than just another date on the calendar for me.  To cover myself, I purchased that day’s transcript.

Approximately 25-30 pages of the manuscript focus on the lawsuit.

I hope this will appeal to basketball fans of all ages, though some of the language will be too coarse for younger eyes.  It will certainly be of interest to diehard Knick fans which, when Madison Square Garden is filled, number more than 19,000.

The Table of Contents is divided into a basketball game -Shootaround, First Quarter, Second Quarter, Halftime, Third Quarter, Fourth Quarter, Overtime; additionally, there is an epilogue [MSG On Trial] and two postscripts.  Each chapter is also prefaced with a relative quote.

The book is an extremely accurate portrayal of the team, and covers the duration of Thomas’ reign as coach.  The 2006-07 season is written in diary form, with dated entries.  The following campaign is condensed into 25-30 pages, and concludes with the recent hirings of GM Donnie Walsh and Coach Mike D’Antoni.

With the exception of any subsequent, and mostly non-descript moves, these pages would’ve sufficiently taken the reader into the 2008-09 season.