Donnie Walsh Gets His Coach, But His Credibility Takes a Hit - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

One of the first things Donnie Walsh promised to do upon taking over the Knicks was repairing the franchise's fractured relationship with the media. Unfortunately, he's gotten off to a rocky start. When ESPN began reporting that the Knicks were on the verge of signing Mike D'Antoni, Walsh shot down the news to the New York Daily News, calling it "inaccurate" ... when in hindsight, that's exactly what was happening.

As Frank Isola of the Daily News describes it, the quick reversal has resulted in Walsh's "credibility taking a hit," and not among the local press:

Mark Jackson was perceived to be the front-runner in the race for the job, but Walsh did not speak to Jackson after their original interview two weeks ago. According to sources, however, Walsh led Jackson to believe that he was the leading candidate.

A source close to Avery Johnson claims that the former Mavericks head coach also was led to believe that he was the top candidate. On Friday, Walsh was involved in contract negotiations with Johnson's representatives.

In the cases of both Jackson and Johnson, it appears that Walsh was not forthcoming with either. The way things shook out also raises the possibility that Garden chairman James Dolan was involved in the decision-making process.

To be fair, Isola's opinion may not be completely objective -- he's the one who got scooped and caught with egg on his face after making the mistake of taking Walsh's statements at face value.

Why would Walsh blatantly lie to a reporter? I can understand not wanting to negotiate through the press, as well as not upset the fall back options (in this case, both Jackson and Johnson) should a deal with D'Antoni fall through. (Modi from Sports on My Mind presents a more sinister theory hinging on Dolan wanting to deliberately mislead the Daily News since it's a rival to his newly-acquired Newsday, a rival daily.) Whatever the truth may be, it's a sign that the much-needed change of culture within the Knicks' organization won't happen overnight.