Embattled Knicks coach—and former president—Isiah Thomas was a popular subject at the inaugural press conference of Donnie Walsh, his replacement at the top of the organization. However, Walsh offered no immediate judgment of Thomas's performance in New York, speaking of him only in vague and positive terms: "He has a great basketball mind."
Thomas has also coached the Pacers under Walsh, who spent 24 years with that franchise before defecting this week. The native New Yorker emphasized that he came to his new team with no fixed preconceptions: "Even though you can look at a franchise, you don't really know a franchise until you find out what's happening." (More NBA stories.)