WNBA will review Liberty’s hiring of Isiah Thomas

The New York Liberty’s hiring of Isiah Thomas as team president earlier this week took many people by surprise.

WNBA President Laurel J. Richie is one of them.

The league is reviewing the move after receiving very little advance notice of it. Richie told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Thomas’ hiring was “first and foremost a team decision, but there’s ultimate responsibility with the league and that rests in my office.”

Thomas, whose disastrous stint as president and coach of the New York Knicks included a sexual harassment suit that cost Madison Square Garden an $11.6 million settlement, was also given ownership interest in the Liberty.

Richie said the league has yet to receive a completed application regarding Thomas’ ownership stake. The WNBA Board of Governors will then have to approve Thomas’ ownership application, likely during an ad hoc meeting before its annual meeting in December.

“The announcement came out [Tuesday], we’re less than 48 hours”into the process, Richie said. “I’d say both on behalf of the league and personally, I’m in the process of gathering information. Ultimately this is a decision in terms of ownership that is a board-level decision. I will participate in that discussion.”