Police Chief Rebukes Thomas for Involving Daughter

A police car moves along Magnolia Drive in Purchase, NY, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. The private road...

A police car moves along Magnolia Drive in Purchase, NY, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. The private road eventually leads to the home of Isiah Thomas, former New York Knicks basketball coach, where authorities say an ambulance was called and someone from the home was taken to a hospital early Friday morning. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

(AP)

A suburban police chief likened the conflicting accounts of an accidental overdose at Isiah Thomas' home to a "cover-up" and rebuked the former New York Knicks coach Saturday for saying it was his teenage daughter who required treatment.

"It wasn't his daughter," Harrison Police Chief David Hall told The Associated Press. "And why they're throwing her under the bus is beyond my ability to understand."

Authorities were called early Friday to Thomas' Westchester County home, where police said a 47-year-old man was taken to the hospital and treated for an overdose of sleeping pills. Several media outlets reported that police confirmed it was Thomas who went to the hospital.

But reached on his cell phone Friday, the 47-year-old NBA great told the New York Post he had not been treated for a sleeping pill overdose, and that it was 17-year-old daughter Lauren who had a medical issue.

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It "wasn't an overdose," he told the newspaper. "My daughter is very down right now. None of us are OK."

Hall forcefully refuted Thomas' statement.

"My cops ... know the difference between a 47-year-old black male and a young black female," Hall said.

"These people should learn something from Richard Nixon — it's not the crime, it's the cover-up," he added.

Voice mails and text messages from the AP were left on Thomas' cell phone Saturday. Messages left earlier with Thomas' publicist and two of his attorneys were not returned.

Thomas' 20-year-old son, Joshua, lashed out at Hall's comments.

"Saying that someone is being thrown under the bus when you are talking about health issues is disrespectful," the Indiana University student wrote in a text to the New York Daily News.

"I love both my sister and dad and am glad that both are doing well," he told the newspaper. "Thanks for all the support, but as a family we are fine and stronger than ever."

On Friday, he also said it was his sister, not his father, who required treatment.