Oh, you saw this one coming

Have you heard the latest news out of Knicksville, regarding our old friends Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas?

Hot off the press from the New York Daily News:

Larry Brown was fired as Knicks head coach today, less than one year after signing a five-year, $50 million contract to resurrect the franchise.

In a contentious early-morning meeting with Brown, Garden chairman James Dolan fired the coach after just 79 games. Brown missed three games with an illness.

According to sources, the Knicks have told Brown they are not going to pay him the full $40 million he is owed over the last four years of his deal. Sources indicate that the Knicks are going to allow NBA commissioner David Stern to arbitrate what compensation is owed to the Hall of Fame coach.

As reported last month, Isiah Thomas was named as Brown's replacement. The Knicks' president, who has also come under heavy criticism for the team's 23-59 record and its ill-conceived roster, has only three years of head coaching experience.

Apparently, Coach Brown was unavailable for comment, as he was back in the Hamptons, lighting cigars with $100 bills.

I just called myself for a comment on the story, but was too busy laughing to give a proper answer. Before I got off the phone with myself, however, I managed to spit out one word: schadenfreude.

How'd leaving the Pistons for the Knicks - his "dream job" - work out for ol' Larry? (In response to your point that Detroit didn't do so hot with their new coach, I will grudgingly say, "Touche.")

But I also kind of want to tip my hat to the coach. The man completely bilked the Knicks out of some serious cash. He probably won't get the full $40 million remaining on his contract, but what if an arbitrator awards him half of that? That's basically what happened in Detroit, when Brown left town with $7 million - approximately 50% of what the Pistons owed him. Even Anna Nicole Smith is looking on with envy.

Meanwhile, what does Isiah Thomas have on James Dolan? Does Zeke keep his owner away from the TV, newspapers, and internet? Did the two of them play NBA Live '06 with the Knicks roster and win the league championship? Is Dolan truly aware of the collection of players Isiah has assembled?

And now, Dolan's going to let Isiah coach these guys? Has he seen Zeke's coaching record? Are phone calls from Madison Square Garden to Donnie Walsh or Larry Bird blocked? Does Dolan realize the Indiana Pacers didn't become a contender in the Eastern Conference until Bird hired a different head coach?

Or maybe Dolan knows exactly what's going on, and figures making Isiah coach his roster is more of a punishment than firing him. Could that be the case?

Anyway, this is all just about as surprising as the end to The Lake House. (Spoiler alert: Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock end up together. Yes, I saw it over the weekend. Shut up. It was 90 degrees last Saturday and I needed air conditioning.) Did this ever have a chance of ending well? How could the people who get paid to make these decisions not have seen this coming?

And who's the next NBA owner to fall for Larry Brown's steaming pot of b.s.?