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OD or No, Isiah Was Miserable

Former Knicks coach denies overdose landed him in hospital

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 26, 2008 12:47 PM CDT

(Newser) – The whole story surrounding Isiah Thomas' reported sleeping-pill overdose remains murky, but the factors that might be bringing him down aren't hard to spot, writes the New York Post. Thomas went from a lifetime in the spotlight to being sequestered in a back office with fans' chants of "fire Isiah" likely still ringing in his ears—it's no wonder he collapsed, say friends.

"A guy like Isiah, who has such a big ego, for the first time in 30-something years he's not going to be involved in basketball," a friend says. "He must be very depressed." But Thomas is "not telling the truth," says a police chief who wonders why the basketball great is bringing his daughter into it.

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (3)]

A police car moves along Magnolia Drive in Purchase, NY, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. The private road eventually leads to the home of Isiah Thomas, former New York Knicks basketball coach. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

In this April 16, 2008 file photo, New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas watches from the bench as he team plays the Indiana Pacers in NBA basketball action in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

New York Knicks President and coach Isiah Thomas moves past a media crush leaving Manhattan federal court on the second week of his sexual harassment trial, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. (AP Photo / Louis Lanzano)

New York Knicks' Nate Robinson, right, talks with coach Isiah Thomas in the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings during NBA basketball action Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

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It wasn't his daughter. And why they're throwing her under the bus is beyond my ability to understand. - Harrison Police Chief David Hall, who says his cops took a man out of the house, not a 17-year-old girl

These people should learn something from Richard Nixon—it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. - Harrison Police Chief David Hall, who was frustrated that Thomas insisted the person brought to the hospital was his daughter, and not him

A guy like Isiah, who has such a big ego, for the first time in 30-something years he's not going to be involved in basketball. He must be very depressed. - An unnamed friend of Isiah Thomas

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OD or No, Isiah Was Miserable