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Isiah Thomas once cornered me in a hallway and issued a warning, mob-boss-like. "If you squeeze me again, you'll be sorry," he said. I'm not certain what warranted the threat -- and it's nice to know I haven't awakened to a horse's head in my bed -- but it was a classic snapshot of what King Isiah was like when he ruled the world, when he was a two-time NBA champion, when he was the best little man who ever played the game.

Now, years later, he is humbled, deleting the mountains of scandalous cache in his personal hard drive and rebooting himself amid the smallest of templates. He is escaping New York, where his dreadful tenure as boss and coach of the Knicks was exacerbated by a sexual-harassment case against him, and attempting to salvage his career and life at Florida International University, where a basketball team that hasn't had a winning season in 10 years played to average crowds of 693 fans last season.

From time to time, our NBA FanHouse email threads turn into fascinating debates. With news of negotiations between the New York Knicks and Stephon Marbury hitting the wire, FanHouse's Matt Moore and Nate Jones pondered whether the Knicks have handled the situation properly. Here are their thoughts:

Nate Jones: So supposedly Donnie Walsh didn't know that Mike D'Antoni was going to sit Stephon Marbury on opening night.

Matt Moore: I don't know how much I believe that. I mean, Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni have been at the hip. I think it's pretty odd that D'Antoni would bench the $20 million guy against his boss' intentions.

NJ: Don't you think Walsh would have waived him before the season and avoided all of this if he knew this was how it was going to go down? D'Antoni does whatever the hell he wants to do. The guy is known for being as stubborn as they come.

MM: I think D'Antoni is a professional who has the respect of managers and coaches in the league, and who's been known to work well with management that wasn't forced upon him, like, oh, say, Kerr.

Before training camp started, Knicks President Donnie Walsh stated that Stephon Marbury would have an opportunity to earn playing time on the Knicks. Marbury came to camp in great shape and played very well in the pre-season. Yet when the season started, Stephon didn't get any burn. When questioned about this decision, Knicks Coach Mike D'Antoni stated that he didn't want to play Marbury inconsistent minutes, and that he would rather not play Steph at all than give him spot playing time. Stephon eventually requested to be put on the inactive list, which caused even more media scrutiny over the issue.

As Brett Edwards mentioned earlier, Marbury, Walsh and D'Antoni all met today to resolve Stephon's status with the team. As a result of the meeting, the Knicks have decided that they won't trade or waive Marbury and will just keep him on the inactive list the entire year. Walsh and D'Antoni both believe that the issue is closed, but I think they are being slightly naive about this.

Every weird storyline and painful vignette seeping from New York's 1-0 start can be traced back to Stephon Marbury. The current laugh-o-rama (that's sarcastic) has to do with the theory that Mike D'Antoni called Knicks fans "a--holes" for chanting for some Starbury during a blow-out. The line in question, according to some lip-reading from the New York Post's Marc Berman, goes like this:

"You've got to be (bleeping) kidding me. You've got to be (bleeping) kidding me. What a bunch of (bleep) holes."

D'Antoni and others with the team insist the referees were the (bleep)holes. Still, D'Antoni did admit his curiosity as to why fans do chant for Starbury, saying that sometimes fans don't get it.

The Knicks have to know by now no one will trade for Marbury this season. Sure, he's a giant expiring contract. But the Knicks won't be taking back long-term salary in an exchange, and few teams have the right combination of desire to employ the league's most volatile point guard and $20 million in dead expiring contracts.

So, there's only one real way to fix the problem: waive Marbury.

Some recent chatter about Cablevision breaking off a few of its properties -- Madison Square Garden, for one -- has led some to the conclusion James Dolan will be losing control of the Knickerbockers. Newsday's Ken Berger intimates Knicks fans will have no such luck.

"I would say the most likely buyer is probably some group headed by Jim Dolan, personally, because Jim seems to get a lot of pleasure out of those particular assets," an expert in the field of sports and media transactions told Newsday.

"Those assets are unique, and if you enjoy owning and running them, you're not going to get another shot at it. So I'm not sure why you would sell."

If anything, Dolan will have more control over the Knicks, as he currently (in theory) answers to the Cablevision board. Of course, Dolan's chief problem -- one Isiah Lord Thomas -- has been exiled to parts unknown. There probably isn't terrible much damage Dolan can do with Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni playing interference these days.

Can you imagine if the Knicks did hit the open market, though? Back in 2002, the Celtics sold for $360 million. I imagine the Knicks, with the market power of New York, a world-famous gym, and the extraordinary services of Wilson Chandler, would break $600 million ... which, coincidentally, is the Knicks' payroll after luxury tax this season.

By theory, the NBA Draft Lottery (tonight at 7:30 p.m. Eastern) is left to randomness. But what if basketball karma dictated the results? Close your eyes and imagine such a world ...

#1 Pick: New York Knicks. James Dolan has done everything (other than self-flagellation) required by the karmic standard to rectify the painful past for his franchise: he kicked Isiah Thomas downstairs and out of sight, he gave a new face complete control of the operation, and he paid a ton of cash to the most exciting coach in the sport, a creative fellow who could make watching even Eddy Curry enjoyable. Of course, Dolan exists as a crime against basketball ... so consider this a karmic thank-you to Dolan for keeping his head out of his ass for a single month (hard work, surely), as well as a heavenly blessing to all those beat-up Knicks fans out there.

#2 Pick: Los Angeles Clippers. Again, the owner of the franchise deserves few plaudits. By several accounts, Donald Sterling is a bit of a scumbag. But these poor Clippers fans! The 2006 postseason was not salvation -- it was a taste of the high life offered solely to make the Evil Empire's return to the top even more painful to watch. Injuries galore, decades of misery ... the Clippers deserve a break.

#3 Pick: Sacramento Kings. Faced with the sincere opportunity to tank two years in a row, the Kings have instead played spoiler and asserted their role in playoff seeding. Also, unlike Clay Bennett, the Maloofs have (shock!) worked with the locals to (awe!) cooperate in building a privately-financed arena. Though the league has taken the lead, the Maloofs might be writing the playbook on how the NBA can survive in a small market without being as good as the Spurs.

Honorable mentions: Minnesota (for refusing to tank and rebuilding the right way), Portland (the feel-good team of the decade ... though one might think their positive mojo has been used up).

Join NBA FanHouse at 7 p.m. Eastern for a live blog of the lottery, hosted by Brett Edwards.

James Dolan spent something like $180 million on the Isiah Thomas abomination. The Knicks spent more money on payroll this season than any other team ... and still ended up among the six worst squads in the league. So it's good to see some of Dolan's hard-earned dollars going to a worthy cause. From the New York Post, via SbB.

Anucha Browne Sanders isn't letting the $11 million she won in her sexual harassment case against Isiah Thomas burn a hole in her pocket. At last week's Arthur Ashe SportsBall, a fund-raiser for urban youth programs, Sanders "was bidding on everything in the silent auction," according to a witness. "She had her name down under every item," said the onlooker, including "an Oprah Winfrey experience, a Roger Federer tennis racket and a Barack Obama basketball.

Oprah experience, or Jerome James? Federer memorabilia, or Jared Jeffries? Tough call. Hell, Anucha could buy $500,000 of Hot Pockets and still spend more wisely than Isiah did. And we're talking Hot Pockets.

The Isiah Thomas era came to an end last week, but as you may recall, it wasn't because he was fired. Nope, apparently Isiah has some pretty strong dirt on team chairman James Dolan, as he somehow was allowed to stay with the team (in some capacity that we are uncertain of) under terms of his "reassignment."

One thing we are certain about concerning Isiah's new role is that it won't involve talking to members of the team he used to coach ... at all. Thomas has officially been barred by the organization from having any contact with what used to be his players. The reasons for this are obvious: if Thomas kept in touch with the Knicks players -- every last one of whom he was responsible for acquiring -- he may, intentionally or not, undermine what the new head coach is trying to do in terms of turning things around.

Now, while Donnie Walsh may be technically doing the right thing by trying to put a ban like this in place, the reality is, with Thomas still lurking behind the scenes, no one can be certain that he isn't speaking with any of his former players. The only way to completely revamp the Knicks and distance the team from the Isiah era is to remove him from having anything to do with the team in any capacity whatsoever. Which is something that at this point, it appears that Dolan is simply unwilling to do.

(Here's one blogger's attempt on boiling down the Jeff Van Gundy situation for you.) Yesterday during ABC's epic Suns-Spurs battle, the Knicks' coaching vacancy -- for which color analyst #1 Mark Jackson is a top candidate -- came up on the air. JVG (color analyst #2) was asked about his interest by play-by-play man (and Knicks broadcaster) Mike Breen. JVG called himself a "superdelegate" and insisted Jackson, his partner who was sitting less than five feet away at the time, was the right candidate for the job and should be hired.

So is JVG interested or not? During Friday's press call on Isiah Thomas's reassignment, new boss Donnie Walsh mentioned he'd be interested in finding out JVG's interest level in returning to Madison Square Garden. JVG's weekend interview with the New York Post's Marc Berman provides a hint of an answer in discussing unresolved tension between himself and Knicks owner James Dolan over JVG's previous hasty exit.

"I made a decision that was right for me and what I thought was right for the Knicks at the time. If that overshadows my service to the Knicks in his mind, I'd be disappointed."

I'm not clear as to why Van Gundy would be concerned with Dolan's feelings on the subject were Van Gundy not interested in spending that earned "service to the Knicks" in order to get back into the franchise. JVG doesn't strike me as someone who needs to feel loved by everyone he's crossed paths with.

Jackson remains a prohibitive favorite -- Phil Jackson would have to abandon the Lakers or M. Jackson would have to seriously blow his meetings with Walsh, I think, to derail Mark's path to the bench. That's not going to happen, so the rest of this might as well be idle chatter. But it bears remembering that JVG holds a bit of interest in this job, and possibly others.

I stumbled across this BetUS "Prop Talk" column (no need for you to inquire how I do my stumbling, thank you) a few days ago, and obviously it's not fresh or anything, but it seems pretty appropriate at this stage in Isiah Thomas' career. See, Zeke was a -2000 favorite to be the first coach fired this season.

Donnie Walsh has been hired to replace Isiah Thomas as the Knicks president of basketball operations. It is widely assumed that Walsh will also relieve Thomas of his coaching duties after the regular season ends on Apr. 16.

Wanna bet? Thomas is a –2000 sports betting favorite to be the next NBA coach who either gets fired or resigns. The field is priced at +800. However likely it may be that Thomas' four years and change in the Big Apple are about to end on a sour note, he's not the only one with his head on the block.

I actually tried to find the odds themselves, and was unable to for whatever reason. I wish I had, because had I bet on anything, it would have been "field". There were plenty of people -- Jim Boylan and Larry Krystkowiak come to mind -- that were eligible to be canned before Zeke, especially considering that Donnie Walsh probably wasn't interested in finding an interim coach to manage the circus for just a few games.

But more than anything, I think what's funny about this particular gambling line is that it is pretty metaphorical for Isiah's entire tenure in New York. -2000 is one of the highest money lines I've ever seen. Think about it. 1:20 odds is beyond anything Tiger Woods or the 2008 Patriots ever sniffed. Yet ... he still beat them!

And that's what Isiah has been doing in New York for years. Sexual harassment lawsuits, horrible free agent signings, 30% winning percentages, embarrassing trades -- none of them could get Isiah booted immediately. Finally, James Dolan caved and brought in Donnie Walsh, who canned Thomas, but when we all think back on Zeke's career in New York, yes, we'll be amazed at how awful a job he did. But I think in the end, we'll be more amazed at how long he actually kept the job.