Rant #2,481: Another One Bites the Dust

I have not written an entirely sports-oriented Rant in some time, but recent actions are forcing me to do that today. So, if you aren't into sports, pass this one by.

If you are into sports, read on. I think it is an interesting story.

David Fizdale was relieved of his head coaching duties by the New York Knicks the other day, and just who is surprised at this?

The Knicks--without the doubt both one of the wealthiest and sorriest franchise in professional sports in this country, a horrid combination--fired another head coach the other day ... but then again, they have fired so many head coaches during the past decade or so, that doing so is almost business as usual for them.

David Fizdale, who came from winning organizations to lead the Knicks last season, was fired after another horrendous season was unfolding. He was replaced, at least for now, with former Knicks G-League coach Mike Miller, who himself is in a no-win position here, both literally and figuratively.

It is so easy to blame the coach, and that is what the Knicks hierarchy did by firing Fizdale and his assistant, Keith Smart. But for perhaps the first time in a while, I don't think that these are going to be the only firings we hear about at Madison Square Garden.

The problem with all of this was that Fizdale had the title of "Head Coach," but he really was more of a placeholder/teacher for someone better when the Knicks got better, and the hierarchy assumed that the team would be getting better really quickly, through the draft and through the lure of top free agents to New York and the almost hallowed ground of Madison Square Garden.

Boy, were they wrong ... "never assume anything, because you make and 'ass' out of you and me" was never more striking than it was here.

First of all, the team had the worst record in the league last year, yet through the lottery process, fell to third choice in the lottery, a lottery that really wasn't that great to begin with.

Second, and probably most importantly, their plan to lure top free agents like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant fell as flat on its face as humanly possible. The reasons are multiple: the team is bad, the team is ineptly run--starting at the top with owner James Dolan and filtering down to its top basketball executives--and playing in New York City and at Madison Square Garden is not the draw it used to be.

The latter reason runs through all pro sports in this country, and that is, players can make money whether they play in New York or Oklahoma City. The money is there. It is not like in the 1970s and 1980s, when every pro athlete seemingly wanted to play in New York, because that is where the big bucks were being given out.

Due to a number of reasons, including the incredible increase in television revenue across the board, even small-market teams can pay players astronomical salaries. And the lure of playing in New York--with intense media scrutiny--is not for everyone. So by selling New York and Madison Square Garden as draws to play here, instead of showing that the Knicks have some direction, the team shot themselves in the foot trying to get top free agents.

In fact, Durant and Irving chose New York as their new home, but not Madison Square Garden ... Barclays Center is their new home as members of one of the top up and coming teams in the sport, the Brooklyn Nets.

So Fizdale--a likable basketball lifer--really never got a chance to show what he can do here, as the team, bereft of possibilities, foisted on him a completely inept roster made of role players and third and fourth choices on most other teams.

The team has no direction, no future, and is nearly impossible to watch. Getting completely blown out by more than 30 points in each of Fizdale's last two games as head coach didn't help matters at all.

But the real blame has to be divided among three people. James Dolan, the owner, has no clue about running a franchise. He sees fannies in the seats--the Knicks, in spite of their horrid play, regularly draw sell outs or near sell outs at every home game, simply because corporations and high rollers buy up most of the seats--so to him, that is success. He is so wrong, but he is also so strong in stating that the team is not for sale.

The other blame must go to the two top basketball executives, President Steve Mills and General Manager Scott Perry, who seem as inept as their boss Dolan is on what is important to make a winner in the NBA. They both seem to be puppets of Dolan, but the hint here is that even Dolan might feel that the time is right for a change at the top, and that these two executives' days may also be numbered.

There are many, many choices to replace Mills, Perry, and yes, interim coach Miller, who again is doomed to fail in a thankless job of taking a team that will probably unload lots of its players in the coming weeks and make something out of it during another completely lost season.

Yes, I am available, but all kidding aside, I can think of a few viable names for any or all of the above positions, including former Knick/former NBA head coach/current NBA broadcaster Mark Jackson, Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri, heck, even former Knick/former NBA assistant coach/current college coach Patrick Ewing have been talked of as coming on board.

Whoever comes on board to lead this team--both in the front office and on the court--will be in for a rude awakening, because they would be taking on one of sport's greatest challenges: making the sorriest franchise in professional sports, which just happens to play in the media capital of the world, into a viable franchise once again.

One way to do this is to literally bleed accountability, which this organization hasn't done in generations.

That would be one place to start, and once that is accomplished, take it all from there.