Stringer apologizes to Isiah for critical comments
BY ANTHONY RIEBER=20
| anthony.rieber@newsday.com=
=20
- October 28, 2007
GREENBURGH, N.Y. - At least one he said/she said =
story turned=20
out Isiah Thomas' way.
Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian =
Stringer spoke Saturday with Thomas, the Knicks' coach and president, =
and=20
apologized for critical comments she made Friday on ESPN.
The two =
spoke=20
by telephone for about 15 to 20 minutes, according to Thomas. Stringer =
said=20
Saturday night in a statement: "The whole situation is most regrettable. =
It was=20
not my position to insult Mr. Thomas in any way. I responded to a =
question of=20
which I had partial information and was not aware of the full text of =
Mr.=20
Thomas' statement. I am not in a place to make judgment on Isiah Thomas, =
Anucha=20
Browne or the New York Knicks organization. I spoke to Isiah this =
morning and=20
have apologized. I am hoping we can now get back to =
basketball."
Said Thomas, "I congratulated her on keeping her =
team together=20
last year through a very difficult time and playing in the championship =
game.=20
Now that she has all the facts, she read my statement and heard the =
things I had=20
to say in the full context of what I said, she was very supportive and=20
understood exactly where I was coming from. It was a good=20
conversation."
Asked if Stringer apologized, Thomas said: "Yes, =
she=20
did."
Stringer's comments in an ESPN interview aired Friday were =
critical=20
of Thomas' statements during a video deposition during the Anucha Browne =
Sanders=20
sexual harassment trial, which Thomas and Madison Square Garden lost at =
a price=20
tag (so far) of $11.6 million.
Thomas, in the video deposition, =
suggested=20
that he would be more offended if a white man called a black woman a =
bitch than=20
if a black man used the same word toward a black woman. "I'm sorry to =
say, I do=20
make a distinction," he said in the deposition. He has since clarified =
his=20
statement by saying it was offensive for anyone to use that word. He has =
said=20
Browne Sanders' lawyers edited the deposition to make his words seem=20
worse.
On ESPN, Stringer said: "I thought he lost his mind, =
honestly. You=20
want to know what I really felt? It was disgusting ... This was a woman =
first.=20
He has no right to put her down and then think, 'It's OK for me to put =
her down=20
but it's not all right for a white man to put her down.' ... She is a =
human=20
being, and as a female, and in particular as a black female, I took =
tremendous=20
offense to that."
Stringer is no stranger to racially tinged =
controversy;=20
she is the coach of the team that was called "nappy headed ho's" by =
shock jock=20
Don Imus, leading to Imus' firing by CBS radio.
Thomas also =
maintained=20
his innocence Saturday despite the jury's verdict that he sexually =
harassed=20
Browne Sanders, a former Garden executive, and that the Garden fired her =
when=20
she complained. Thomas and MSG are appealing the verdict.
"I =
understand=20
the jury spoke, but the jury was wrong," he said. "I think I've been =
through a=20
terrible ordeal, my family and I. I was falsely accused and wrongly =
found=20
liable. That's how I feel."
Notes & quotes: The Knicks =
said they=20
have exercised the 2008-09 contract options on David Lee, Nate Robinson, =
Renaldo=20
Balkman and Mardy Collins.
More=20
articles
Copyright =C2=A9 2007, Newsday Inc.