For all the ink spilled this week about Kobe and KG possibly overshadowing Draft Night, why, oh, why, could this story have not come out 48 hours ago? From the AP :

The former Knicks executive who is suing coach Isiah Thomas for sexual harassment alleged in court papers that Thomas urged a cheerleader to flirt with referees and guard Stephon Marbury cursed at her, according to newspaper reports Saturday.

Anucha Browne Sanders, a former senior vice president of marketing and business operations, filed documents to answer the Knicks’ attempt to have her lawsuit dismissed.

In the papers, which were unsealed Friday, Browne Sanders alleges cheerleader Petra Pope told her Thomas encouraged Pope to flirt with officials before a game against the Nets in 2004, the Daily News reported.

“What she told me was that Isiah asked her to go into the referees’ locker room and make them happy,” Browne Sanders testified.

Sanders said Marbury directed an obscenity at her after she complained about the player’s cousin – who was also employed by the team – had made graphic sexual comments to her staff.

Marbury, in a January deposition, acknowledged calling Browne Sanders a derogatory name, according to the New York Post.

Sanders also claimed a member of her staff admitted to consensual drunken sex with Marbury after a night at a “gentlemen’s club” and said “she did not believe she could say no because of who Marbury is.”

Sanders said her decision to inform officials about the encounter led to her being fired, according to the New York Post.

It’s fascinating to note the issue of “character” has been raised repeatedly in the past two days since the Knicks acquired Zach Randolph. Presumably, Zach is satisfied that Isiah and Steph are exactly the kind of characters he’d be OK partying with.