MIAMI – LeBron James started it 15 months ago at Carmelo Anthony’s wedding when he advised the soon-to-be Knick that Anthony and Chris Paul should join forces with Amar’e Stoudemire in New York. That partnership, according to James, would give the trio their best chance of competing for an NBA championship.

So when it came time to pick teams for the South Florida All-Star Classics here on Saturday, James had an easy choice to make.

“Do you think Knick fans liked that?” Anthony asked. “I’m sure they did. I liked it.”

James gave Stoudemire, Anthony and Paul the opportunity to be teammates for one night at least. That the game was played at Florida International University and with Isiah Thomas in the building is no coincidence because Thomas, according to sources, helped the Knicks obtain both Stoudemire and Anthony and is working behind the scenes to bring Paul to New York as well.

Thomas, the coach at FIU, was instrumental in bringing Saturday’s game to the FIU campus and he seemed to have a hand in every aspect of the event. Proceeds from it were directed to Mary’s Court, an educational foundation named after his late mother. Thomas and his wife, Lynn, sat courtside while their son, Joshua, a New York-based disc jockey, provided the music.

The event was important for the Knicks because it marked the first time since April that Stoudemire had played in a competitive game. Stoudemire, who suffered a back injury prior to Game 2 against Boston, is probably a few weeks away from regaining his top form. But the fact that he’s playing again is an encouraging development.

“I thought he looked great,” Anthony said.

Stoudemire has been a regular on the FIU campus, working out with Thomas’ players and even attending classes with them. He even has a new nickname, “Renaissance Man,” which is what Thomas called Stoudemire on Saturday.

No one knows what title to give Thomas, who remains close friends with Garden chairman James Dolan and says he’ll always root for the Knicks. Thomas is probably something between the de facto general manager and an unpaid adviser.

When asked about the Knicks’ chances for the upcoming season, he agreed that Stoudemire and Anthony are the right building blocks.

“I think they have a chance to be extremely successful,” Thomas said. “Both of those men, Carmelo and Stoudemire even with Chauncey (Billups), their mentality is they want to win. Carmelo’s won in college. He understands how to win. They’re tough enough to go out and win and win big and have big moments in playoff situations.”

Billups is the one proven winner on the team, but he has an expiring contract, which many teams covet. For the Knicks to have a shot to trade for Paul, they’ll likely have to use Billups in a potential deal.

Under that scenario, the Knicks would have exactly what Miami has: three All-Stars and a legitimate chance to make a title run.

“With the talent of (Dwyane) Wade, James and (Chris) Bosh, if that’s the model, it’s going to be pretty tough for a lot of teams to (deal) with,” Thomas said.

Isiah Thomas will not be the next president and general manager of the New York Knicks. That is very different than saying he will not have influence, but he will not have the job and the title and the desk. Just ask him.

Who will? Probably a few of the guys already in the building in a power sharing arraignment.

That’s becoming the conventional wisdom around the Knicks, as articulated in the Daily News.

The team of Scott O’Neil, Glen Grunwald and Mark Warkentien, all of whom are already employed by the Knicks, are the front-runners to run the basketball operation, the Daily News has learned.

Grunwald is an Isiah Thomas disciple and former general manager of the Toronto Raptors. He currently serves as the Knicks’ senior VP of basketball operations and was named interim GM… Grunwald is highly regarded by his peers around the NBA and within the Knicks organization, having served under both Thomas and Walsh. According to a source, his responsibilities would be to handle the day-to-day functions on the basketball side along with Warkentien, who was hired Jan. 30 as a consultant.

Grunwald and Warkentien would report directly to O’Neil, the president of Madison Square Garden, who began taking on a greater role with the Knicks’ personnel moves dating back to last summer’s free-agent recruitment of LeBron James and including February’s celebrated trade for Carmelo Anthony.

They would replace Donnie Walsh, who was not picked up for a new deal when all he did was return the team to the playoffs after slashing the payroll in half.

Maybe some places this power sharing can work. But in Madison Square Garden under James Dolan? Yes, I have my doubts, too. But this may be the direction things are headed for the Knicks.

Donnie Walsh is stepping down as the
New York Knicks’ president of basketball operations after a
three-year tenure that turned a struggling franchise into a
playoff team led by All-Stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.

Walsh and team owner James Dolan mutually agreed that he
would serve as a team consultant for the 2011-12 National
Basketball Association season, Dolan said in an e-mailed
statement.

Walsh, 70, said today that the decision was based on his
unwillingness to commit beyond one year. Saddled with health
problems that kept him in a wheelchair for part of last season,
he said he had lost the energy to do the job, although his
health now is good. His departure takes effect at the end of
this month.

“I didn’t think I could do it over a multiyear period,”
Walsh said on a conference call. “I don’t know that I’m up to
being here that much longer, I don’t know that he wants to wait
or should wait.”

Walsh said he likely would have accepted a one-year deal,
which was complicated by the possibility of a work stoppage as
the NBA and its players negotiate a new labor contract.

“Because of the uncertainty of next year, that would be a
windfall for me and it wouldn’t be fair to the franchise,”
Walsh said.

Interim Appointment

Glen Grunwald, the Knicks’ senior vice president of
basketball operations, will serve as the team’s general manager
on an interim basis, beginning in July. The club doesn’t have a
timetable for making a full-time hire, according to the
statement.

“In a relatively short time with the Knicks, Donnie made a
tremendous impact, which will be felt for many years to come,”
Dolan said in the statement.

Walsh stepped down as president and chief executive officer
of the Indiana Pacers in March 2008, signing a three-year
contract to join the Knicks, who had missed the postseason for
seven straight years.

The team continued to struggle over the next two campaigns
as Walsh shed player salaries in anticipation of a free-agent
class a year ago that included All-Stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Stoudemire.

While James, Wade and Bosh chose to team up with the Miami
Heat, Stoudemire joined the Knicks, who later landed Anthony in
a February trade with Denver. New York went 42-40 last season,
reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2004, before
being swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round.

James Pursuit

Whether Walsh would continue with the Knicks after his
contract expired this month has been in question since last
summer, when, according to the New York Daily News, Dolan asked
former team president and coach Isiah Thomas to make a pitch to
James to join the team.

Other media reports said he disagreed with Dolan about
signing Anthony and that the owner had sought advice from Thomas
about that move, taking the decision out of Walsh’s hands. Walsh
repeatedly denied those reports at the time and said today that
neither autonomy over personnel decisions nor Thomas’s
relationship with Dolan played any role in his contract
negotiations.

He said he had a good relationship with Thomas and
“basically had a good relationship with Jim.”

“He treated me very well,” Walsh said. “I never could
understand reports that he wasn’t or that we didn’t get along.”

Replaced Thomas

Walsh was hired to replace Thomas, who had been fired as
the Knicks’ president and coach. Thomas, now the coach at
Florida International University, was rehired in August as a
consultant to the Knicks before deciding not to take the job
after he said it had “become apparent” the appointment
violated NBA rules regarding his status as a college coach.

Walsh said he was content with his own performance in three
seasons attempting to revive the franchise.

“I loved the challenge of trying to bring this team back,
and I think I did that,” he said. “I think I did the first
step of that, but there are more steps to go.”

To contact the reporter on this story:
Mason Levinson in New York at
mlevinson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net.