Isiah Thomas was canned by Florida International University on Friday after three unsuccessful seasons leading the Golden Panthers basketball team. Thomas went 26-65 in his three seasons as FIU’s coach and did even worse than his predecessor, Sergio Rouco, whose teams went 34-57 in his final three seasons.
Worst part of all? Isiah says this is the first time he’s been fired strictly because his basketball teams did not play well. Try to contain your laughter.
“This is the most surprising thing that has happened to me in basketball,” Thomas told ESPN.com. “I never been fired before for basketball reasons. This is the first time.
“When I was in Toronto, I was trying to buy a team and I left. When I was in Indiana, Larry Bird told me that he liked what I was doing but he was closer to Rick Carlisle. The whole thing in New York was crazy. This is the first time someone told me that I was being fired for basketball reasons.”
Don’t be so stunned, bro. It doesn’t take a good coach more than three seasons to build a winner in the Sun Belt. You know what this also tells us? If Zeke hadn’t cost his owners millions of dollars in a sexual harassment suit, he probably would still be coaching the Knicks, because, you know, he wasn’t fired for basketball reasons.
Seriously, I think Thomas’ unsuccessful stint at FIU should end the question about his coaching abilities. If he were good, he would have turned it around in no time.
Photo Credit: Andrew B. Fielding-US PRESSWIRE
