Knicks' Brown Endures A 'Miserable' Homecoming

Brooklyn-Born Coach Has Woeful Season

Brooklyn-born Larry Brown hasn't had much to be happy about this year as the Knicks look to avoid the worst 82-game season in team history. (Tony Gutierrez - AP)

CLEVELAND

Larry Brown didn't need to be wheeled out on a gurney to reveal how much this tumultuous, agonizing and disappointing season has taken a toll on him. But in a troubling scene that spoke to the mortality of a coaching legend -- and perhaps summed up the struggles of Brown and the New York Knicks -- the 65-year-old coach was carted out of Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday after becoming ill in the third quarter of the Knicks' 56th loss of the season.

Brown sat upright, with oxygen tubes attached to his nose, and looked flushed and embarrassed as reporters, fans and security personnel fretfully watched him make his way to an ambulance to be hospitalized overnight. He was released on Friday with what the team called a "stomach ailment" -- the latest dramatic turn in what has already been a gut-wrenching season for one of the most storied franchises in the NBA.

Only a few hours before he was hospitalized, Brown spoke of the failings of the Knicks in his first season with the team he grew up rooting for -- his supposed dream job. "I'm not even going to get into this dream [stuff]," Brown said. "The reality is we won 22 games and it's been miserable. I learned a lot. I'm hopeful I'll be better for it. [But] I wouldn't wish this on anybody, to go through this."

The season began with so much promise, the Brooklyn kid returning home where his love for basketball began. He was given a hero's welcome at his home debut at Madison Square Garden.

But when the team was booed off the floor after the Washington Wizards handed out an 11-point defeat, it merely set the stage for what was to follow.

The Knicks (22-57) lost their first five games of the season, went 1-12 in the month in December and 1-11 in February. They have to win two of their last three games to avoid posting the worst 82-game season in franchise history (the Knicks went 23-59 in 1985-86). Portland is the only team in the NBA with fewer wins. Swingman Jalen Rose tried to play down the Knicks' situation, saying that they are just one of 14 teams in the lottery. "It's going to be a lot of teams going," said Rose, who joined the Knicks in February. "Those other teams have found a way to just play basketball and go quietly into the night."

The Knicks have not. The team has been wrought with controversy and turmoil all season. Brown, in the first year of a deal that is believed to pay him $50 million over five years, has struggled coaching the Knicks and he has clashed with several of his players, including star guard Stephon Marbury.

Knicks President Isiah Thomas, who has been highly criticized for assembling the Knicks' roster of overpaid underachievers, has been sued for sexual harassment.

Antonio Davis, who has since been dealt to Toronto, was suspended five games when he rushed into the stands in Chicago out of concern for his wife. Rookie Channing Frye, one of the few bright spots, had his season cut short because of a knee injury.

Thomas has also made baffling trades for Rose and Steve Francis that crowded an already jam-packed back court and added more salary to a payroll that ranks as the highest in league history -- a whopping $125 million this season.

The Knicks' incredible failure has frustrated Brown, his players, their fans and people within the organization. "You see a great coach. You see so much talent and it doesn't add up," Knicks guard Jamal Crawford said recently.