Marbury turns down starting job

By MARC BERMAN

AUBURN HILLS - Stephon Marbury is entitled to feel the way he feels, that there is no turning back after being treated like a leper by Mike D'Antoni for the season's three weeks. But that does not mean turning down an offer Wednesday afternoon to become the starting shooting guard for the Knicks for the rest of the season is a decision that merits sympathy. :o

That is what our sources told us Wednesday in Detroit. D'Antoni was not asking Marbury to step in for a one-night stand like in Milwaukee. Whether it was desperation or not with their depleted state, D'Antoni was willing to swallow his pride and give Marbury his starting job back. If it's true, that's how decimated the Knicks had become.

He told D'Antoni his heart and mind wasn't into it after being told for weeks he wasn't in the plans, that buyout talks had already begun and he was mentally in a different place. Fine. But the Coney Islander, with a chance to resume his career as a Knickerbocker, chose not to.

This isn't about Marbury not living up to his $21.9 million contract or doing it for his teammates (who wanted him long gone). Many athletes have forced teams to move them after being treated a lot better than the coach treated Marbury. Nothing new there.

This is about the local kid whose Knick experience became so rotten, he did not want to play for his hometown team and try to rescue a season already in crisis. He no longers wants any part of a franchise he had professed to care so much about. That is the saddest part of a very sad story.

Things change very rapidly in life and the NBA. One day, Jamal Crawford is the centerpiece of D'Antoni's offense and "his guy.'' The next day, Crawford is a Golden State Warrior. One day Marbury is the pariah. The next day, after two solid practices in D'Antoni's view, he wants him as a starter. Marbury couldn't get past the prior rejection. I wonder if Marbury ever thought about how Crawford feels.

The Knicks are bigger than any coach, any president, any owner, even any arena. The Knicks are basketball in New York City - an institution. And Marbury wanted no part of representing New York basketball any more. He can't ask for Knick fans - of which he was once - to understand that.

This reminds me of the leaked trade rumors with the Clippers after the Camby trade went down. We're a perpetual embarrassment to everyone. I don't buy this simply because of the timeliness of the leakage. It wreaks of Seafood!

poor Steph... it's not his fault... he's just a victim.

excuse me while i hurl.

Posted by TMS:

poor Steph... it's not his fault... he's just a victim.

excuse me while i hurl.

You're buying?


If true wouldn't this be an admission the first request was only for a 1 game stint, borrowing time for Mobley?


Ironic that Mobley needs more tests.


Our GM states he possibly may never play for our team.


In just a matter of one 1 week and 2 practices, Marbury after supposedly turning down the first offer of 30-35 min was then trusted and given another offer for a starting spot for the rest of the season?

You seriously can't be buying this?

[Edited by - GallOfFame on 11-27-2008 9:30 PM]

Posted by McK1:

its hard for people to accept the great mike d is either extremely dumb, a snake of the Isiah order, or extremely bi-polar.



[Edited by - McK1 on 27-11-2008 9:34 PM]

apparently it's hard for you to accept the same of Marbury, things the rest of us have known about him for a long time now.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by McK1:

its hard for people to accept the great mike d is either extremely dumb, a snake of the Isiah order, or extremely bi-polar.



[Edited by - McK1 on 27-11-2008 9:34 PM]

apparently it's hard for you to accept the same of Marbury, things the rest of us have known about him for a long time now.

unbelievable he still has fans

Posted by Knicksfan:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by McK1:

its hard for people to accept the great mike d is either extremely dumb, a snake of the Isiah order, or extremely bi-polar.



[Edited by - McK1 on 27-11-2008 9:34 PM]

apparently it's hard for you to accept the same of Marbury, things the rest of us have known about him for a long time now.

unbelievable he still has fans

i don't get it either... the guy has spit in all our faces time & time again w/his selfish & moronic behavior... he's sabotaged entire seasons because of his childishness & idiotic ego & pride... yet there are Knick fans out there that still think he's a victim in all this... un-freakin-believable.

Posted by McK1:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by McK1:

its hard for people to accept the great mike d is either extremely dumb, a snake of the Isiah order, or extremely bi-polar.



[Edited by - McK1 on 27-11-2008 9:34 PM]

apparently it's hard for you to accept the same of Marbury, things the rest of us have known about him for a long time now.

i knew it since 05. check the archives.

however this time he is none of the above

Ohh he isn't responsible or anything this season. He is a sweet angel this year.

Posted by Knicksfan:



Ohh he isn't responsible or anything this season. He is a sweet angel this year.

please explain how Steph is the cause of this drama.

reporting to camp in shape and or time?

playing the pre-season in the role coach he had for him?

not running to the press about his displeasure with being benched?

accepting the de-activation?

reporting to the game dressed and taped to play when instructed prompting the Milwaukee crowd to chant "we want steph"?

refusing to leave an undisclosed amount of millions on the negotiating table?

declining an alleged offer to play after being told you are not a part of the present nor future?

not incriminating himself in the papers while his buy-out is being negotiated?

Can't the Post reassign Berman to cover the Liberty? Or just reassign him and not give him a title?

Posted by Knicksfan:

Posted by McK1:

Posted by Knicksfan:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by McK1:

its hard for people to accept the great mike d is either extremely dumb, a snake of the Isiah order, or extremely bi-polar.



[Edited by - McK1 on 27-11-2008 9:34 PM]

apparently it's hard for you to accept the same of Marbury, things the rest of us have known about him for a long time now.

unbelievable he still has fans

I'm not a Steph fan.

You sure look like one

This is funny because MCK1 has historically been one of the biggest Marbury detractors on this board. However, he is able to have an equitable opinion of a given situation rather than an extremist view based on anger.

He can look at a situation and see what is up without letting his emotions overrule his reason.

I respect that.

oohah

Posted by McK1:

Posted by Knicksfan:



Ohh he isn't responsible or anything this season. He is a sweet angel this year.

please explain how Steph is the cause of this drama.

reporting to camp in shape and or time?

playing the pre-season in the role coach he had for him?

not running to the press about his displeasure with being benched?

accepting the de-activation?

reporting to the game dressed and taped to play when instructed prompting the Milwaukee crowd to chant "we want steph"?

refusing to leave an undisclosed amount of millions on the negotiating table?

declining an alleged offer to play after being told you are not a part of the present nor future?

not incriminating himself in the papers while his buy-out is being negotiated?

You're absolutely right. Marbury is historically neither a victim or an innocent but in this case he's not the one who's wrong. If he was given a direct order by his coach to get into the game and declines, that would be a different story. But even in the leaked stories, that hasn't been the case. Marbury was told to dress and he complied. He was asked to play and he declined.

Since D'Antoni has been hired, Marbury has amazingly enough been very professional. He showed up to camp on time and in good shape, he accepted a diminished role and a change of positions without complaint, he sat quietly as he received zero playing time and he didn't complain as he was told he no longer had a role on the team and would stay inactive.

Why couldn't D'Antoni and Walsh have taken care of all this months ago instead of letting it be a distraction and another circus? When Portland traded for Stevie Franchise, they told him to stay away and that was the end of it. It was the professional way to handle it and it never became a distraction. The same could have been done here and it's D'Antoni and Walsh's fault that it's gone this far.