Sportz

Thomas posted a 56-108 record in two seasons as coach. His .341 winning percentage ranks among the bottom five in franchise history. The Knicks went 23-59 this season, and seemingly every home game featured choruses of “Fire Isiah.”

The Knicks had embarrassments off the court as well. Anucha Browne Sanders, a former Knicks executive, sued Thomas and the Garden for sexual harassment and received $11.5 million in damages last fall.

The Knicks opened the season with playoff aspirations after acquiring forward Zach Randolph last June, but hopes were quickly doused when Thomas clashed with point guard Stephon Marbury Thomas threatened to remove Marbury from the starting lineup in early November, and Marbury responded by leaving the team for a day, skipping a game in Phoenix. When Marbury returned, Thomas let him play right away, over the objections of other players.

The team’s morale sunk, and its record along with it. The Knicks lost eight straight games, then hit a low when they were routed, 104-59, by the Boston Celtics Nov. 29.

Thomas, who became team president in December 2003, never wanted to coach the team. But Dolan ordered him to the bench in June 2006, after firing Coach Larry Brown, who went 23-59 in his one season.

Under Thomas’s leadership, the Knicks’ payroll ballooned without any clear progress on the court. Thomas’s reign was characterized by a series of risky moves for expensive, often aging players, including Penny Hardaway, Maurice Taylor, Jalen Rose and Steve Francis. Among his first moves was acquiring Marbury.

In another high-profile move, Thomas traded two lottery picks to Chicago for center Eddy Curry in 2005, hoping to build the team around him. But Curry regressed this season, struggling to play with Randolph, and was frequently benched.

In Thomas’s first season as president, the Knicks won 39 games and made the playoffs but were swept by the Nets in the first round.

Over the last four seasons, the Knicks have won 33, 23, 33 and 23 games.

“I can’t tell you really where we failed,” Walsh said. “The bottom line is we haven’t won, and the team didn’t look like it was motivated to try to win.”