BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the New York Knicks hired Hall of Famer and former Knick General Manager Isiah Thomas to be their “consultant”.  Nobody knew what this meant, and nobody could make sense of this hire.  After all, Thomas essentially drove the Knicks organization into the ground with terrible signings and bad draft picks.  It was because of him that the Knicks struggled with the salary room to get LeBron.  Sure, they made a run at him in the end, but instead of having a core of good players (like the Bulls), they had a disappointing team.  Not exactly appetizing to a guy who wants to win championships right away.  Plus, Thomas was involved in a sexual abuse case within the organization.  So hiring him back was curious. What’s going on behind closed doors that we don’t know about?

Well, Wednesday, the NBA said the hiring of Thomas is a violation because of his current job as a college basketball coach.  They said that Isaiah couldn’t be a part of both the NCAA and the NBA.  Thomas then twisted this into another story, saying that he would only come back to the NBA in the role of General Manager.  Talk about ego.  After his horrible track record with the Knicks, who would want Thomas running their organization?

Elsewhere in the NBA, a major trade that could help multiple organizations.  First, the New Orleans Hornets are trying to appease their star Chris Paul by surrounding him with supporting talent.  They just brought in Trevor Ariza, who was instrumental in helping the Lakers win a title in 2009.  Unfortunately, they had to ship rising point-guard Darren Collison away.  However, Collison landed in a spot that was desperate for a quality point guard, Indiana.  Indiana has a lot of young talent in Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, and two hot rookies.  Having a quick point guard who shoots well will only help them jell faster.

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it looks like the New York Jets and star cornerback Darrelle Revis can not come to an agreement.  Revis has been holding out saying he wants a much bigger contract.  Last season, as a rookie, he proved himself to be one of top cornerbacks in the game.  And now he wants compensation for it.  Well, because they’re at loggerheads, it looks like Revis will miss the pre-season and there’s a chance he might not even play games.  They’re at a pure stand still.  The good news:  This story  will be prominently featured and explained in HBO’s Hard Knocks series, so that should be thoroughly entertaining.