In his first exclusive sit-down interview in seven years, James Dolan admitted he remains friends with Isiah Thomas and that the two remain in communication, although Dolan says their dialogue has decreased some due to Thomas' involvement in other fields.

Dolan was asked whether he still consults Thomas about basketball moves -- adding he thinks Thomas deserves another opportunity as an executive in the NBA.

"Not really," Dolan said. "For Isiah, I don’t know that he’ll ever be able to work in New York. I just don’t know that he’ll ever get a fair shake, going forward in New York?

"Do I think he deserves another shot? Yeah. It just can’t be here. And I think he’s talented. I think he’s particularly talented at finding basketball talent. But I think he’s probably dismayed at this point. But I don’t see him coming back to New York. I couldn’t do that to him, and I couldn’t do that to the organization. He would probably do it as my friend but I couldn’t do it to him or his family. And you know what the press would do here. We’re interested in getting better and that situation would be such a distraction that it would actually hinder our ability to get better."