NEW YORK, June 22, 2006 (AFP) - The New York Knicks sacked coach Larry Brown on Thursday, and named president of basketball operations Isiah Thomas as coach. The move came less than 11 months after the Knicks lavished Brown with a five-year contract worth more than 50 million dollars after he worked out a buyout with the Detroit Pistons. Now James Dolan, the Knicks owner and chairman, will have to pay off the remaining 40 million dollars on Brown's salary. Joe Glass, Brown's longtime agent, had ruled out the possibility of a buyout settlement when reports first surfaced in May that Dolan wanted to make a coaching change. The Knicks finished with a 23-59 record under Brown, the franchise's worst mark since 1985-86. Only Portland (21-61) finished with a worse record last National Basketball Association season. "We hired Larry last summer with the expectation that he would be with the Knicks for a long time," Dolan said. "Sometimes decisions work and sometimes they don't. After careful consideration, despite the best intentions from everyone involved, this current structure did not work for us last season and I did not think it was going to improve next season." Brown compounded the losing by publicly criticizing his players, namely star guard Stephon Marbury. The Knicks went 33-49 in 2004-05 under coaches Lenny Wilkens and Herb Williams. Under Brown, the Knicks regressed and Dolan and Thomas felt he had a negative influence on many players. "No one in our organization is happy with last season and we all accept responsibility for our performance," Thomas said. "This has been a difficult time for the entire organization and our fans. Larry Brown is a great coach, but for various reasons, bringing him to the Knicks did not turn out the way we had hoped and we wish him the best in the future." Thomas joined the Knicks as president and general manager in December 2003 after previously serving as coach of the Indiana Pacers for three seasons. He compiled a 131-115 record with the Pacers, making the playoffs each year but failing to win a series. Thomas took over a team that was well over the salary cap and exacerbated it with his trades. He also traded the Knicks' first-round pick, which turned out to be No. 2 overall, in the 2006 draft to Chicago for center Eddy Curry. However, Thomas made other deals for first-round picks which resulted in the Knicks having the 20th and 29th selections in next Wednesday's draft. Brown is 1,010-800 as an NBA coach, guiding seven of his eight teams to the playoffs. He was the Coach of the Year in 2001 when he guided the 76ers to the NBA Finals and won his first title in 2004 when the Pistons stunned the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, becoming the only coach to win the NBA and NCAA collegiate crown. As a college coach, Brown is 177-61. He directed UCLA to the 1980 NCAA title game and Kansas to the 1988 championship.
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