The potentially incendiary sexual harassment trial of Isiah Thomas, the Knicks? coach and president for basketball operations, begins today in Manhattan federal court, three weeks before the team opens training camp.

The allegations against Thomas made by Anucha Browne Sanders, a former senior vice president for the team, are salacious and likely to preoccupy the news media because of his celebrity and his mixed record running the Knicks.

James L. Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, who fired Sanders, and the Garden are also named as defendants.

Browne Sanders, 44, accuses Thomas, 46, of making unwanted sexual advances toward her and cursing her with derisive street language, both of which he denies.

In her deposition, Browne Sanders contended that Thomas asked her to go ?off-site? for private time and hugged her inappropriately.