PURCHASE, N.Y. — Some of Isiah Thomas' closest friends still are piecing together details from the incongruent reports surrounding Thomas' apparent overdose of sleeping pills, which resulted in a 911 call to his home here early Friday morning. According to reports, Thomas was found unconscious but breathing and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Madison Square Garden on Friday said Thomas is "OK," but aside from a short phone conversation Friday with a reporter from the New York Post, the former Knicks president and coach has been neither seen nor heard. Thomas still is employed by the Knicks, who are owned by Cablevision, which also owns Newsday.

"I can't even get anybody," said Mark Aguirre, who served as one of Thomas' assistant coaches with the Knicks and was his teammate on the Detroit Pistons. "I'm thinking they would call me."

Police are calling it an "accidental overdose," and Aguirre believes that likely is the case instead of the initial concern: a possible suicide attempt. Aguirre didn't need the police report to completely rule out the latter.

"We grew up on the West Side of Chicago," Aguirre said. "Ain't no more down than that . . . You'd never get me to believe that, not the way we fought all our lives just to survive."

In fact, friends say Thomas' outlook has brightened since he was reassigned by the Knicks in April. His mother, Mary, had been very ill toward the end of last season but has recovered strongly. "She's fine now," Aguirre said. "Back to her old tough self."

Aguirre, who is at his home outside of Dallas, said he has left several messages with Thomas but as of Saturday had not heard from him or anyone in the family.

"It's shut down over there," he said of Thomas' home.

Harrison police chief David Hall has vehemently disputed Thomas' statement that the medical issue at his home involved his 17-year-old daughter, Lauren, and not him. Newsday reported Saturday that Lauren Thomas, who is hypoglycemic, was hospitalized Thursday after a fainting spell during class at Rye Country Day School.

Authorities who responded to a 911 call to Thomas' home early Friday morning say a 47-year-old man was taken to the nearby White Plains Hospital Center. According to police sources, the man was Thomas.

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

"It wasn't his daughter," Hall added. "And why they're throwing her under the bus is beyond my ability to understand."

Save for a neighbor heading out for a mid-morning jog Saturday, there was little activity inside the upscale Purchase neighborhood where Thomas lives.

Thomas was not seen entering or leaving his posh home, although an older man who identified himself as "security" did appear and briefly addressed reporters camped outside.

"I hope you're not planning on staying here all day," the man said.

He went on to say that Thomas would not be available to the media.

"It's a family matter," he said. "There's not going to be any comment. There's no spokesperson."

At about 10:15 a.m., the man told reporters they were parked on private property and that he'd be forced to call the police if they refused to move.

Just days before the Knicks are set to open a new era under president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni, Thomas is dominating the headlines.

A year ago, he was embroiled in a sexual harassment civil trial, which caused him to miss the first practice of training camp and enter the season mentally drained. A jury found in favor of the plaintiff, former Garden executive Anucha Browne Sanders, and the Garden later settled for $11.5 million.

Thomas has mostly laid low after the final indignity of his Knicks tenure — being stripped of his president and head coach titles last April.

"I know he wanted to get lost," Aguirre said. But Thomas has surfaced lately to see some Knicks players around the cafeteria at the MSG Training Center and as an invited guest of Spike Lee at a recent private screening for the Knicks players of Lee's latest movie, "Miracle at St. Anna."

Aside from working off the final two years of his lucrative contract with the Knicks by having no defined role or responsibility, Thomas is a partner in the very successful venture "Dale and Thomas Gourmet Popcorn," which has 10 locations, including one in Times Square, and also is sold at Fenway Park.