The Clash of NBA Coaches and Their Flawed Superstars

Stardom and excellence for a player in the NBA can be a very short-lived dream. It's a fickle business, driven by many factors and players are really analogous to trading cards, chess pieces, or marbles. There's an interesting dynamic between the agents and the team management, like a tug of war for money.

The average NBA player has very dubious job security and a rather bleak basketball career outlook. The average NBA career lasts a little under 5 years. Unless you're a superstar (Michael Jordan) or physically gifted giant (Dikembe Mutombo), whose very name will almost always grant him a place on somebody's roster, you should probably plan and save up in case you get injured or nobody picks you up.

It must be hard for the average Joe to understand the rationale, then, of someone like Stephon Marbury of the New York Knicks. Here's a guy who was suspended the other day because he reportedly refused to play when called upon. He's going well into his 12th year as a pro in the NBA. Before we denounce him as being completely irresponsible, however, let us examine the surrounding details of the case.

Stephon Marbury is an extremely talented point guard who was his team's top stat-sheet-stuffer for many years. The guy definitely has the skills and the assists needed to earn his top-point-guard status. Coming into the NBA he was very fast, energetic, and had dazzling moves. But as we've seen with many other players, life starts to wear them down. It's a demanding business, both mentally and physically. Day-in, day-out, grueling practices and constant stress on your joints.

The situation that occurred was similar to one we've seen with a comparable NBA player - Allen Iverson. Marbury got really unlucky in the coach-swapping game.

Let's face it: coaches have a hard time earning respect in the NBA. From Phil Jackson to Byron Scott, it's difficult for coaches to earn and keep the respect and command of some of these players. If my name is Coach Billy Goodbutterballs, making a modest 1.2 million a year, and I'm a balding 54 year old it is undoubtedly hard to keep the respect of someone like Allen Iverson or Stephon Marbury, who drives at least a dozen cars, can easily buy all the houses around me, and has his own personal butler. These players, after living large for this long, often develop an arrogance and an attitude of entitlement. It's not totally their fault either - hey, we pay to see them.

Yes, there will be bruised egos when NBA coaches decide to bench star players who they deem unworthy of minutes. There's no doubt it's a hard pill to swallow for a superstar, to be benched and somewhat ignored even. This is what happened to Stephon. Partly it was because of some past history with his coach.

The coach's only real power over his players is his control of the time players stand on the court. In college coaches are really much more powerful, and I've seen it first-hand that they can even humiliate their players at times.

So in the NBA players are relatively spoiled. Why couldn't he just be humble about it and perform his duty: to play basketball when called upon, and to do so honorably and professionally. This decision to insubordinate his coach cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'd be OK right now with earning a tenth of one percent of that in one day. Calculate it.

As a pickup basketball player who never quite made the high school team(I'm as tall as Steph's teammate Nate Robinson, an amazing player), I can not tell you how exciting it would be to get paid over $50,000 to sit court-side at every Knicks game and watch all the action while sipping Gatorade. Heck, getting paid millions for travelling, warming the bench, staying in nice hotels, and watching pro ball doesn't sound too bad at all. Not too shabby.

Stephon is now 31 years old, and he's reportedly making almost $21 million. The Knicks can't trade him because he's too expensive and generally seen by GMs as past his prime.

To give Marbury some credit however, there is still a chance he was wronged here. We may never know for sure whether his coach had an axe to grind, but there is indeed evidence that he did. I hope Marbury does shape up, find a better arrangement in a new team, and become a vital part of a winning team. But If he really wants a ring, or at least another chance to help a team win, he'll have to prove it.

Chris Sheridan, "Knicks, Marbury, NBPA reportedly to meet Monday" , ESPN

Chris Sheridan, "Knicks send Marbury home after failing to agree on buyout", ESPN

Harriet Barovick, John Cooper, Lina Lofaro, Michele Orecklin and Flora Tartakovsky, "Notebook", TIME

NBA.com : Stephon Marbury Career Stats Page