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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 12:34 p.m., Friday, October 24, 2008

NBA: Overdose call at home of Isiah Thomas

By Ken Berger
Newsday

NEW YORK — An ambulance was called to the Westchester County home of former Knicks coach and president Isiah Thomas about midnight Friday, responding to apparent overdose of sleeping pills.

Harrison, N.Y., police officer Vincent Lanzilotti declined to identify the person involved, though news reports indicated that a 46-year-old male was referenced on a police radio call. Thomas, 47, was fired as the Knicks coach and president this past April and reassigned to a consulting position with the team.

The person was taken to White Plains Hospital and was believed to have been released later in the day, said Lanzilotti, who did not know if the person returned home or was transferred to another medical facility.

"There was an overdose," Lanzilotti said. "We're not confirming a suicide attempt, just a possible accidental overdose. We're not getting into the details of what's going on with the case."

Barry Watkins, vice president of public relations for Madison Square Garden, told reporters, "Isiah is fine," but did not elaborate.

Thomas has not been around the Knicks on a consistent basis since his dismissal, and was instead dispatched for various scouting trips. Thomas bought the home in an upscale section of Purchase — around the corner from point guard Stephon Marbury, one of his first and most controversial acquisitions — in 2004 for $4.075 million, according to the Journal-News newspaper.

Thomas was fired from the Knicks on April 18 after presiding over perhaps the most dismal era in the history of the franchise.

In the past season alone, Thomas was found to have sexually harassed a former team employee, feuded with point guard Stephon Marbury and benched center Eddy Curry — the players Thomas acquired in the two biggest of a number of moves that never panned out.

When he was fired, his record in New York was 56-108. Overall, he is 187-223 as an NBA coach, leading the Indiana Pacers to the playoffs in three straight years from 2000-03.

Thomas was hired as the Knicks' team president on Dec. 22, 2003. The Knicks made the playoffs that season, getting swept by New Jersey, but haven't gone back despite their high-paid players.