If the past week has shown the Knicks anything, it is that their humiliating off-season will not soon be forgotten.

Commissioner David Stern, in an interview broadcast Tuesday, delivered his harshest assessment yet of the Knicks, who lost a sexual-harassment case earlier this month.

Asked what the case indicated about the state of the franchise, Stern told ESPN, ?It demonstrates that they?re not a model of intelligent management. There were many checkpoints along the way where more decisive action would have eliminated this issue.?

It was not clear whether Stern was referring to the Knicks? decision not to settle the lawsuit before trial or to their handling of the harassment allegations when they first surfaced. Either way, it was clear that Stern was embarrassed by the spectacle.