After NBA Commissioner David Stern declared that Florida International University Head Basketball Coach Isiah Thomas's appointment as a consultant to the New York Knicks was a conflict of interest, Thomas rescinded his acceptance of the offer.  I what has become a public relation nightmare for Thomas, the New York Knicks and their owner James Dolan, the NBA, the NCAA, and Florida International University, the decision may only be a precursor to Thomas's appointment as General Manager of the Knicks.  Should such an appointment occur, it is likely to spark a new round of public relation problems amongst Knicks fans and their team.

Thomas, the former president and coach of the Knicks, was fired by the team after allegations that he sexually harassed a female vice president.  While Thomas was not found personally liable, the team had to pay $11.6 million in damages.  

Present president of the team, Donnie Walsh, reportedly opposed the hiring of Thomas.  The media has speculated it would signal a diminished role by Walsh in rebuilding the struggling franchise.  Present speculation sees Dolan offering the vacant General Manager's position sometime in the near future to Thomas (who would then resign is post at FIU) and would therefore see Walsh resign from his position.  The attempt to bring back Thomas to a meaningful position with the team has been met with harsh criticis, especially amongst the teams fans.

Freddy Krueger came back. So did Jason. As did Arnold. And now Isiah Thomas is back with the NY Knicks. The former Vice President and General Manager, who is presently the head coach of Florida International University, has signed on to be a consultant for the Knicks, against the wishes of current GM Donnie Walsh. Walsh was brought in to clean up the mess left by Thomas after a series of debilitating trades that has left the Knicks with virtually no draft picks in the first round for several of the past seasons with very little to show in return as performance on the court. In addition, during his tenure with the Knicks, was found guilty of a $11 million dollar sexual harassment suit filed by another vice president that is no longer with the organization.

Karen Sypher, the woman that accused Univ. of Louisville Coach Rick Pitino of rape was herself found guilty of extortion. Sypher claimed that Pitino had raped her in the back of a restaurant in 2003. She then tried to extort from Pitino $10 million dollars, college educations for her children, and her mortgage paid off. Pitino, admittedly ashamed of his conduct, spoke with his family and then reported the incident to the FBI. After an investigation, it was concluded the allegations of rape were unfounded. While a "15 second" tryst did occur, Sypher claimed Pitino got her pregnant, requested funds ($3,000) for an abortion, which Pitino did give to Sypher, and then tried to extort the additional funds from him.

The jury concluded that the sexual encounter was consensual and not rape. The decision came after only one day of deliberation. Pitino is still the coach at Louisville.

Rumors are flying high and fast that Shaquille O'Neal is about to sign a one year contract to join NBA runner-up Boston Celtics. The Celtics are looking for a big man to get them over the top and fend off the surging Miami Heat in the East. The question is does O'Neal still have enough game to survive another NBA season and help a rapidly aging Celtic team. As with all things, time will tell.

Like medicine, mom telling us to bundle up, or a coach telling us we still need to practice before we make the starting team, no one likes to receive news they don't want to hear.  What makes the NCAA the villain in most people's eyes is their absolute control over penalties with only themselves as the court for appeals.

The USC football and basketball program was hit with harsh sanctions last week, even after all the parties (coaches and players) involved are no longer associated with the school.  Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo will essentially be erased from all but the collective consciousness of USC fans.  Penalties handed down by the NCAA went above the self imposed USC penalties, so that the basketball program will not be permitted to play in the NCAA tournament and the football team participate in any bowl game for two years.

Yesterday, after the Arizona program had already self imposed recruiting restrictions on itself for violations it committed by (then) head coach Lute Olson interactions with a camp on campus, the NCAA struck again by imposing an additional year of lost scholarship and wiping out the 19 wins in the 2007-08 season.

The question is, why mus the NCAA always appear to be the over-bearing parent that has to have the last word?  You've cleaned your room after being told to do so several times, but now told you will also not receive desert.  Each program has realized its errors, cleaned itself, imposed sanctions upon itself like a forced diet, and then gets additional punishment, as if to say "we're watching you".

There has to be a time when an NCAA institution will self impose sanctions and it will be enough to satisfy those in Indianapolis.  When will we hear about those?

A multitude of thoughts on the LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat have been expressed by members of the Gameoversportz.com community.  Each has expressed ideas and reflections of the events that has led to the top three available NBA free agents, James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh to sign contracts with the Heat.  The owner of James former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, went on a rant the evening of James announcement (and which resulted in a $100,000 fine by the NBA).  There was articles and talk radio that discussed James abandonment of Cleveland, that he shied away from locations like New York and Chicago due to legacies (Jordan) and spotlight/media (intrusion into personal life).  Discussions have surrounded the decision in the manner in which the decision was announced (Live television broadcast on ESPN), collusion among the three players as much as three years prior to the free agent period of 2010, and the Miami Heat organization using Wade as its emissary to construct the environment to lure James and Bosh. 

A party in South Beach the day after where each of the three strutted down a runway in their uniforms like models slapping hands of fans.  Other franchises that were unable to land any of the top three settled for their second and third choices, if they were fortunate.  Talk of a dynasty and expectations of multiple championships has emerged as benchmarks that must be met or levels of failure will be tied to these three as they were to prior greats like Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.

Other than that, not much has happened in the past 5 days.

We were waiting for the first shoe to drop, and it did when A'mare Stoudemire announced that New York was his kind of town and the Knicks his kind of team.  Now it is reported that Dwayne Wade is staying in Miami and Chris (Tweeter) Bosh is joining him.

But to the absolute joy of NBA Commissioner David Stern, LeBron James announcement will come on live television Thursday evening on ESPN.  At a time usually reserved for presidential addresses, "The King" will address the nation where he will accept a contract of well over $100 million.  The biggest announcement most of us make is when we get up from the dinner table and tell our companions that we are going to the bathroom.

The NBA has gotten such free press from free agency that they have to consider revising the length of contracts so that all players are free agents every year.  The public relations that has come at the hands of the ESPN media giant could not be bought for less than the BP oil clean-up in the Gulf.

Are there winners and losers?  The ultimate winner is the NBA for all the spotlights it has received these past months.  Some teams will garner greater attention, others will warrant our sympathies, and some will just go on being who they are (i.e.: Los Angeles Clippers).  But we have all provided the NBA, like an attention starved 16 year old, what they wanted, our abject attention.