NEW YORK (AP) – Isiah Thomas understood he would have many detractors when he agreed last month to become president and a potential partial-owner of the New York Liberty. He hopes the extra scrutiny will lead to more interest in his new team.
“We knew that it would have some concern and would create some attention,” Thomas said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Friday. “That being said, we’re hoping that with the added attention, as we’ve seen, there’s more discussion about the WNBA and more discussion about the New York Liberty. That’s a good thing.”
Much of that attention, though, is not the kind a team seeks out. Thomas, once the subject of a sexual harassment suit when he worked for the New York Knicks, is facing stiff opposition from outside groups to his ownership application.
That application is still pending. WNBA President Laurel J. Richie had hoped to have a decision on it before the season began, but that wasn’t feasible. The league just announced this week that a six-member committee of the WNBA Board of Governors was formed to evaluate it.
“I can’t really speak on the ownership and I apologize,” Thomas said. “I wish I could. Right now we’re not allowed to talk about that.”