Isiah Thomas ODs, Then Throws Daughter Under the Bus

How contemptible can you get? Distraught over being perceived as a pathetic loser, this guy takes 10 Lunesta pills, is found unconscious and has his stomach pumped.

Then he turns around and claims it was his daughter taken from the home.

It would be bad enough, and sad enough, if the story were limited to Thomas himself, who was taken to White Plains Hospital Center on Friday after swallowing up to 10 Lunesta pills. Police, after all, confirmed that it was a "47-year-old man" who was treated for what police are calling an "accidental overdose."

Whatever prompted Thomas to do that, it apparently was not an effort to kill himself. No matter how you fall on the issue of Thomas the basketball executive, that is good news.

What is troubling, to the point of terrifying, was what Thomas told The Post's Marc Berman when reached later that afternoon.

"My daughter is very down right now," Thomas told Berman, referring to 18-year-old Lauren Thomas, who reportedly suffers from hypoglycemia, a lower-than-normal level of sugar in the blood. "None of us are OK."

That reaction does reveal a quintessential side to Thomas, the side that always had a casual - at best - relationship with reality.

Harrison Police Chief David Hall certainly seems to agree, given his pointed observation to the Associated Press: "It wasn't his daughter. And why they're throwing her under the bus is beyond my ability to understand.

"These people should learn something from Richard Nixon: It's not the crime, it's the cover-up."

Most Useless Man in Professional Sports Now Free to Pursue Other Endeavors

The era of cluelessness has mercifully come to an end.

It'll take years to repair the damage done to one of the NBA's flagship franchises, but it's a start.

Isiah Thomas was fired as coach of the New York Knicks on Friday after a season of listless and dreadful basketball, a tawdry lawsuit and unending chants from fans demanding Thomas' dismissal.

Thomas, the coach for two seasons, will remain with the organization reporting directly to new president Donnie Walsh, a rapid fall for Thomas who also was team president a little more than two weeks ago.

Walsh said he informed Thomas of the decision Friday.

"It's very difficult to be the coach and general manager," he said. "Maybe it was too much."

Walsh took over Thomas' role as team president April 2, and his first big decision was to change coaches as he begins the process of turning around a team that never won a playoff game in Thomas' tenure.

"I just believe a new voice, a new coach, is necessary to change the direction of the team," Walsh said. "This is a coveted job. People want to coach here.

The Knicks finished 23-59, matching the franchise record for losses, in their seventh straight losing season.

"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."

Two of those 59-loss debacles came in the last three years, when the Knicks solidified themselves as the NBA's most dysfunctional franchise with poor play on the court and embarrassing behavior off it.