Remember Thursday night, when an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story by Sekou Smith concerning Billy Knight's thirst to fire coach Mike Woodson bounced on and offline? Late Friday, Smith's story went live for good, followed quickly by a cryptic blog post from Sekou:Let me make it clear this one time, and this one time only. I stand by every word written in the story as it reads now, read yesterday and every other time you might have seen it. There are no minced words in there and none of the read-between-the-lines passages like the ones I love to spin around here. That was a straight news story.The story out there today is not terribly different from the one Brinson posted about Thursday, though this Smith line (from today's story) makes it apparent what caused the story to disappear:
Early online publication of the news Thursday night on ajc.com resulted in the a flurry of attention on sports talk radio Friday morning. (Part owner Michael) Gearon Jr. appeared on 790-AM. The Zone, and said he was misquoted, but did not dispute the story's accuracy.The bottom line, though? No one with the Hawks denies Knight asked permission to can Woody multiple times this year, despite ample opportunity (in the form of two days) to do so.
Want one more twist? Reggie Theus interviewed (with Atlanta's permission) and hired Woody's top assistant Larry Drew to be the top assistant for the Kings. After OKing the interview, Knight stepped back and refused to allow Drew to get out of his Atlanta contract for a lateral move... even though it was clear from the start what the new position in Sacramento would be. Do Knight's doubts about the length of Woody's tenure go back that far? Seems plausible. Without seasoned Drew in line, Knight's goal of firing Woodson would be even more difficult to justify.
