By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — It's deja vu for Knicks fans, and many feel they're reliving a nightmare.
Despite his disastrous run as the Knicks' coach, which ended with a sexual harrassment charge in 2008, Isiah Thomas is back with his old team – this time as a consultant.
According to ESPN.com, Thomas will advise the Knicks in personnel decisions, trades and draft picks.
“I've always said that if there's a GM position that should ever open, that I would be interested in going back to the NBA as a GM for the right spot and the right opportunity,” Thomas told ESPN.
“In terms of going back as a coach, I don't see myself doing that."
Thomas, who was fired from his position as team president by the Knicks in 2008, is currently the head coach of Florida International University.
He was a polarizing figure during his time as Knicks president and coach. He was blamed for signing poor-performing players to overpriced contracts and having dysfunctional relationships with stars like Stephon Marbury.
Most embarrassingly, he cost the Knicks $11.6 million after a jury decided he sexually harassed Anucha Browne Sanders, a Knicks employee.
The decision to bring him back follows his role in failed efforts to entice LeBron James to the team.
It has enraged Knicks fans and sportswriters.
“Even after [James] Dolan had to pay for what Thomas had done, they acted like a couple of weasels,” wrote longtime New York Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica. “They deserved each other then, and they still deserve each other.”
New York Post writer Mike Vaccaro tweeted the news, adding “Jim Dolan spits in the eye of every Knicks fan everywhere by bringing back Isiah Thomas.”
