NEW YORK -- We'd go ahead and call it the Mother of All Knicks Debacles, except for one thing.
Nearly a decade of bearing personal witness to the downfall of the New York Knickerbockers has taught us to never label anything "the worst it has ever or could ever be," because recent history has shown us time after head-shaking time that things actually will get worse at Madison Square Garden, that this week's or this month's or this season's new low will not remain a new low for long.
Still, it really was a new low at MSG Tuesday night as the fans chanted "Fire Isiah" more than a half-dozen times during a lifeless 26-point loss to the Golden State Warriors that extended New York's losing streak to seven games.
Taking it all in with a pronounced frown on his face was owner Jim Dolan, who marched straight into Isiah Thomas' office after the game and either did not have the guts, the will or the good sense to do the right thing and fire his head coach and president.
There was such a palpable level of tension in the hallway beneath the stands, you half-expected Isiah to walk out of his office with a pink slip in his hand -- especially after watching Dolan slump and slouch through one of the most humiliating nights his team has ever had in its own building. But Thomas instead walked down the hallway with his head still held high, made his way through the back corridor to the interview room and placed the blame for this latest loss squarely on his own shoulders.
"You never want to see this kind of display of basketball. That's on me -- on my desk," he said, sounding ever more like a man who might actually want to be fired.
Thomas shot a sharp look at a Knicks PR official when he cut off the interview, then stopped as he got up and made sure everyone heard him one last time: "That was not the players' fault. This one is on me tonight."
The Knicks take their traveling freak show on the road to Detroit on Wednesday, and it'll be the 30th game since Dolan made the first of his two monumental missteps of 2008 (failing to settle the Anucha Browne Sanders case was the other) and gave Thomas a long-term extension.
The Knicks record in the 29 games thus far? How 'bout 6-23.
"We're not headed in the right direction right now, that's for sure," David Lee said afterward in a home locker room where the collective mood of the players was best described as one of self-disgust.
Might this lead to something bad happening?
"Something bad already happened -- 20,000 people just said 'Fire the Coach,'" Jamal Crawford replied.
The crowd began booing the Knicks even before the opening tip, and Stephon Marbury heard it in the opening moments of the game every single time he touched the ball. The first "Fire Isiah" chant rang out half-heartedly from the seats upstairs late in the second quarter with the Knicks trailing by 11 and well on their way to accumulating 29 turnovers, a shocking display of carelessness that more than negated their 52-36 rebounding edge.
The chant resurfaced throughout the second half, reaching its pinnacle late in the fourth quarter despite the building being half-empty by then.
Staying till the end and taking it all in from a courtside seat was Charles Oakley, who was slighted by the classless Knicks by not having his face shown on the center scoreboard during a timeout, as is the custom for visiting dignitaries and celebrities. (It reeked of the Knicks wanting to avoid having Oakley receive a standing ovation, which quickly could have morphed into an anti-Isiah or anti-Dolan chant).
Oakley, however, was not the biggest VIP guest of the night.
That honor was reserved for either commissioner David Stern, who watched the game from a skybox high atop the arena, or his main guest, United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, who attended with numerous other foreign dignitaries. Gotta hand it to the Knicks. When they come up with an epic stink job, they do it in front of some of the most important people in the world. (The U.N. is now expected to pass a unanimous resolution Wednesday ridiculing the Knicks).
"This was about as difficult of a loss as I've had in coaching since I've been here," said Thomas, who said the fans were "right" to boo the team and call for his firing. "What they saw tonight, if I paid money to see this game, I'd be upset, too."
It is hard to fathom how much longer Dolan, who has not spoken publicly regarding the Knicks since giving Thomas the extension back in March, can remain in a state of denial about the shape of his team under Thomas' leadership.
It'll be a huge blow to Dolan's ego to admit the Thomas extension was a mistake, but the only wise move he can make at this point is to listen to the fans, bring in the dynamite and begin the purge by firing Isiah. But since that is the only wise move Dolan can make to assuage his customers, we warn you that he might not do it. The man's track record in nearly a decade of exerting control over the family toy has included a sustained string of bad decisions, from the Patrick Ewing trade to the Marv Albert firing to the Anucha-related humiliation he put the franchise through on the eve of training camp.
Still, the body language on display throughout the night from both Dolan and MSG executive Steve Mills clearly indicated they were experiencing an almost unprecedented level of humiliation for which someone is eventually going to pay.
That someone seems bound to be Thomas, unless Dolan does what Dolan always does -- make the wrong decision. And if that's the case, we're going to be hearing a few more of those "Fire Isiah" chants -- not to mention undoubtedly recalculating our definition of a new low -- as this already humiliating Knicks season trudges forward.
Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.
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