NEW YORK — A former colleague of Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas launched a full court press against him Tuesday, accusing him of regularly calling her offensive names, inviting her "off site for private time," and ultimately confessing his love to her.

"He was hostile, verbally harassing and angry," Anucha Browne Sanders testified in her civil suit against Thomas. "He always started a sentence with 'bitch, this, bitch that.'"

Each time Browne Sanders uttered one of the profanities she claimed Thomas used on her, the 12-time All-Star and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame chuckled from his seat at the defense table, shook his head and then glanced toward the jury box, where one member of the eight-person jury slept through most of the testimony.

The trial, which began Monday, stems from a suit in which Browne Sanders, who was the Knicks' vice president of marketing and business operations before she was fired in 2006, is asking for $10 million from Thomas and Madison Square Garden. She accuses Thomas of sexual harassment and the Garden of firing her when she complained about the treatment.

Browne Sanders described Thomas as a man who tormented her in private with curse-laden and derogatory statements, but in public always put his best foot forward.

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"In public, he was the Isiah that we see today — very personable," she said.

Browne Sanders painted Garden executives, including James Dolan, the chairman of the Garden, and Frank Murphy, Thomas' chief of staff, as indifferent to her claims of sexual harassment. She described Dolan as a volatile boss who regularly screamed at his employees and relayed an incident in 2004 when Murphy stood at her desk and called her an obscene name until she kicked him out.

Garden executives claim Browne Sanders, a former Northwestern University basketball player, was fired for poor job performance, not in retaliation for any claims she made. Thomas has repeatedly denied the sexual harassment, and says he never uttered a single profanity at her.

Browne Sanders, who was in charge of many of the community programs the Knicks players regularly attended, claimed that, from the start, Thomas refused to take part in Knicks business activities.

During his first week as president in December 2003, she said she gave him a "cheat sheet," a laminated card with information about the Knicks, for reference during press interviews.

"What the f--- is this?" he responded, according to Browne Sanders.

The plaintiff said that Thomas often grew hostile when approached about a player's public appearances or his own attendance at company meetings. On one occasion, she claimed, she asked him to attend a meeting with the advertising and sales staff.

"Bitch, I don't want anything to do with the f------ sponsors," she claims Thomas said.

She said she pleaded with him, saying the staff looked up to him and were excited to meet him.

"Bitch, that's not my f------ job," Browne Sanders claimed he said. "I don't give a f--- about these white people."

Thomas' eyes widened at that comment. He then bowed his head and exchanged glances with his all-female defense team.