Knicks Make Mess of Marbury Situation

I'm an 'old-school' guy that loves his 'old school' players or even today's modern players that have an 'old-school' mentality.

I really don't have much patience for many of today's whining and complaining cry baby athletes that make millions of dollars to play a sport that millions of boys - and grown men for that matter - dream about playing for next to nothing or in most cases I suspect, nothing at all.

Having said that, I have to admit that I am sick and tired of the New York Knicks' antics concerning soon-to-be, former point guard Stephon Marbury.

Don't get me wrong readers, in no way am I a Marbury fan, nor have I ever been. It's just that I don't see the Knicks' logic behind their mind-games with Marbury, a player they say doesn't fit into their future plans.

Before I start ripping the Knicks and their front office for their handling of Marbury's situation, let's back up a bit and start at the beginning of this offseason.

Owner James Dolan makes a smart decision to hire veteran NBA front office man Donnie Walsh to head the beleaguered franchise in a new direction following last season's horrific failures and Walsh, in turn, hires former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni, he of the up-tempo, push-the-ball-at-all-costs, coaching method.

D'Antoni takes over and basically says from the very beginning that Marbury doesn't fit into his future plans, playing him sparingly during the preseason, if at all.

Once the regular season opens, D-Antonio and the Knicks sit Marbury while distancing themselves from their former starting point guard and informing him that the club is indeed moving in another direction.

For his part, Marbury doesn't say a word during this period, taking his newfound treatment from the franchise in silence.

"I sat there for three weeks and didn't say one word," Marbury told the New York Post. "I didn't hear one of my teammates say, 'Why isn't Stephon Marbury playing? This is a good system for him, even to play with the second unit and bring more firepower.'

Now, what readers need to know is that D'Antoni has had a problem with Marbury long before he ever accepted the Knicks' head coaching position.

Marbury clashed with D'Antoni back in 2003-04 when the enigmatic point guard briefly played under D'Antoni with the Phoenix Suns.
However, after stating back in September that every Knicks player would have a fresh start, D'Antoni promptly gave Marbury the cold shoulder, showing that he still had some lingering resentment toward to floor leader. Last Friday, D'Antoni admitted his former relationship did play a role in how he has currently dealt with Marbury.
"Do you have influences from past years? Sure you do," D'Antoni said. "You don't just go in like nothing ever happened, here we go. So what I've tried to do is make a team that's together, unified and will play hard and represent the Knicks as well as they can, and we make decisions based on that, right or wrong."
Okay, here's where my problem with the Knicks begins. After basically banishing Marbury, saying his services were no longer needed and repeating the fact that the ballclub was moving in another direction, why didn't the Knicks just tell Marbury not to report to training camp from the very beginning?

New York should have known going in, that they were in a no-win situation with Marbury if they were not going to play him, which, by the way, is another problem I have with D'Antoni.

Marbury is clearly the Knicks' most talented player and one that would have flourished in D'Antoni's up-tempo system. Why not give him a chance to see if he changed his selfish ways back in preseason? Even in a worst-case scenario, I would have brought Marbury off the bench for instant offense.

Now, instead of parting ways with Marbury because they don't want to 'look' foolish for paying a player $20.84 million for nothing, the Knicks have botched the situation even more and made it a distraction for D'Antoni and his mostly mediocre players.

Walsh suspended Marbury for last Saturday's game against the Golden State Warriors reportedly because Marbury refused to play in a Wednesday night loss at Detroit. The Knicks also docked his pay from that night, with the penalties costing Marbury nearly $400,000.

"A player's central obligation is to provide his professional services when called upon," Walsh said. "Because he refused the coach's request to play in the team's last game, we had no choice but to impose disciplinary action."

Marbury for his part, says he was never told he had to play by D'Antoni and added that the coach never intended for him to play from the beginning, which looks to be exactly the case if you ask me.

"Mike had no intentions of me playing basketball here," Marbury said. "He gave me straight disrespect. It was beyond disrespect."

Now Walsh has gone on record to say that he's opposed to buyouts, but also knows he won't be able to trade Marbury because of his high salary.

"He [D'Antoni] knew I was in my contract year and did everything they asked me to do. He's not trying to help me. He's trying to hurt me," Marbury said.

Well, one thing's for sure, the New York Knicks have a mess on their hands and one of their own making. Whatever repercussions the team gets back as a result of their inappropriate and senseless dealing with Marbury, they deserve firsthand.

Maybe this will be the beginning of the end of the Knicks' recent string of franchise-crippling transactions involving everyone from coaches to management and ownership.

Then again, we are talking New York, so, most likely not!