Last year the biggest talk during the NBA playoffs was about disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Players took off their jerseys before games at half court, fans showed displeasure, and eventually the league took action.

Sterling was eventually banned from all NBA operations because of his racist comments and forced to sell his team.

This year, we have a very similar precedent taking place. Only it's not dealing with race; it's with sex. The New York Liberty have announced that Isiah Thomas is now the new Team President and even part time owner of the WNBA franchise.

How this is allowed to happen (just one year after the Sterling scandal) is a complete mystery to most people. Thomas hasn't succeed as a head coach let alone a businessman for any NBA or WNBA team in his career. Liberty and New York Knicks owner James Dolan appear to have a huge friendship with one another that goes outside of basketball.

The two, Dolan and Thomas, were centered in a 2007 sexual assault lawsuit by Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders. Sanders eventually won her case against Dolan and Thomas citing sexual assault damages against Thomas and wrongful firing against Dolan out of spite. Thomas was convicted in a Manhattan court of law for sexual harassment while Ms. Sanders was awarded $11.6 million in damages.

So, here we are, eight years later, and Thomas is now the owner and president of a women's basketball team? Not just any women's basketball team, but in the top league in the United States, the WNBA, and in the same exact city where all the controversy began. The Liberty play their home games at Madison Square Garden, the same arena as the Knicks.

The big golden question now among most basketball fans is, why does Dolan love Thomas so much?

In a 2013 interview Dolan was quoted saying, "I don't know that he'll ever be able to work in New York again. I just don't know that he'll ever get a fair shake going forward in New York. Do I think he deserves another shot? Yeah, It just can't be here. And I think he's talented. I think he's particularly talented at finding basketball talent. But I think he's probably dismayed at this point. But I don't see him coming back to New York. I couldn't do that to him, and I couldn't do that to the organization" Dolan added.

Fast forward two years, and Thomas has been promoted as team president and part time owner of a women's basketball team in the most populated city in the U.S. where he was convicted of sexual assault.

Thomas previously played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons helping the club win two NBA titles as the starting point guard. Thomas is arguably the greatest point guard of all-time, but recent turmoil and controversies off the court have younger fans forgetting his glory days with the Bad Boy Pistons. Thomas was also admitted to a hospital in 2008 for drug overdose.

There's no doubt about it, the WNBA can't compare to the NBA when it comes to ratings, money generated or attendance statistics. Well, maybe that's the answer. As Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post writes, "Only James Dolan would entrust a WNBA team to sexual harasser." Dolan has spoke out on the low WNBA ratings multiple times in the past. Negative publicity is still publicity. The Liberty are 0-4 in championship games. Dolan knows by doing this he can generate huge headlines across the country, because we all know his Knicks sure haven't been doing anything lately.

Comparisons between the Sterling situation and Thomas have been coming up a lot lately. In no way shape or form will anyone stand up or defend what Sterling did, in private, but Thomas being allowed to become a president and owner of a WNBA team has many fans (especially female) upset. This would almost be identical of Sterling being the new owner of an all-black basketball team.

But, it's not 100 percent over just yet. Many insiders believe the WNBA board of governors will reject Thomas's ownership of the Liberty. They can't however reject his team presidency.

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