Police Chief Says Isiah Thomas 'Lied' About His Overdose

After initial reports of Isiah Thomas' sleeping pill overdose seemed to do nothing but conflict each other, we're finally getting what should be some credible information on the matter. The New York Times is quoting the Harrison, NY Police Chief, David Hall, as saying that Thomas flat-out lied when he said that it was his daughter who was hospitalized, and that Thomas himself was absolutely the one taken in for medical attention.

"I understand that this person claims it was his daughter; he is lying," Hall said. "It was definitely not his daughter, it was a male. We know the difference between a 47-year-old black male and a young black female."

"We administered oxygen and we loaded him into an ambulance," Hall said. "He was unconscious, but breathing. So we are calling this an accidental overdose of a prescription sleeping pill." Hall added, "We aren't mind readers, so we don't know why he did it, but there was nothing to indicate a suicide, no notes left."

Since the local police have no motive to lie about who was hospitalized and who wasn't, I'm going to take Hall's word on this one. Which begs the question: why lie (and have your family lie) about the particulars of the incident? This is the New York media we're dealing with; you know they won't let a story die if there's even a hint of something fishy going on, so I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to come clean from the very beginning. Especially if this was completely accidental, as the authorities are saying.

After Thomas' disastrous run as coach of the Knicks, his embarrassing involvement in a sexual harassment law suit, and now his lying to the media about his own overdose and implicating his daughter in the process, it's difficult to imagine how we'd have a positive piece of news to report about Isiah Thomas ever again.