Hooped Up

NBA commissioner David Stern stressed Wednesday that he has not ruled out the possibility of taking punitive action against the New York Knicks or coach Isiah Thomas in the wake of the civil action that reached its conclusion last week.

Stern also revealed that the league will not be firing any more of its referees after interviewing all 60 on staff in an attempt to unearth further conduct violations following the Tim Donaghy betting scandal.

Speaking in London before the Boston Celtics played the Minnesota Timberwolves at the O2 Arena as part of the NBA’s Europe Live tour, Stern reacted angrily to media reports that he is planning no action against the Knicks, team owner James Dolan or Thomas himself.

“Unfortunately, once again the New York Times headline writer said something that didn’t appear in the text of my remarks, and the remarks themselves were badly mangled,” Stern said.

“… What I said then was it was still under consideration, that there were many issues having to do with understanding the transcripts, understanding what exactly the jury did and what role a further appeal should play in considering this. And further, I said that I wanted to discuss this with the [NBA] board of governors.

“The headline said ‘Stern not taking any action,’ but the article will be searched in vain to find me saying that. Now that has been picked up as a fact because it appeared in a New York Times headline.”

ESPN