Jury Rules Against Isiah

The NBA regular season doesn’t begin for another month, but New York Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas has already started losing. A jury decided this morning that Thomas [sexually harassed] a former team executive by refusing to cease unwanted advances and verbally abusing her, and subsequently they found both Thomas and MadisonSquareGarden guilty in the $10 million lawsuit. The jury will reconvene later today to decide punitive damages.

The plaintiff, Anucha Browne Sanders, [accused Thomas] of “demeaning and repulsive behavior” at the outset of the trial, specifying persistent advances and regular cursing as part of that behavior. Sanders then said she was fired by MadisonSquareGarden officials after she went through internal channels to try to solve the problem. Thomas says he will appeal the verdict. “I’m innocent, very innocent, and I did not do the things she has accused me in this courtroom of doing,” he said. “I’m extremely disappointed that the jury did not see the facts in this case. I will appeal this, and I remain confident in the man that I am and what I stand for and the family that I have.”

The verdict came as no surprise after the [jury sent a note] to the judge Monday indicating that it believed Thomas and the other defendants, Madison Square Garden and MSG chairman James Dolan, sexually harassed Browne Sanders—a married mother of three. It’s also not shocking since all Thomas has done since he arrived in New York is lose. I guess you can chalk up another “L” for Zeke.