A rehabbing Carmelo Anthony watched a minute of Liberty practice Thursday. Knicks assistant Jim Cleamons took in a Liberty workout Tuesday. But that was the extent of Knicks-Liberty relations on WNBA’s Media Day that really was Isiah Day.
In a jam-packed press conference at the MSG Training Facility in Tarrytown, Thomas aggressively hawked the Liberty/WNBA product for 25 minutes and admitted he has made no attempt to talk to Knicks president Phil Jackson because, he said, it would only be misconstrued. Liberty coach Bill Laimbeer claimed “a giant brick wall’’ separate the franchises.
After being named Liberty president and partial owner three weeks ago, the perception is the ex-Knicks president Thomas is being groomed by owner James Dolan to be Jackson’s successor when the 69-year-old Zen Master retires to Los Angeles after – or before – his five-year contract expires.