November 27, 2006
Best Way To Handle Marbury? Trade Him
By Frank Isola

What is the end game in the Stephon Marbury-Isiah Thomas clash? A trade, a buyout? Those are two plausible scenarios but not likely to happen for some time. What is incredible is that Isiah appears to have lost faith in his star point guard so quickly. Wasn’t Larry Brown fired for making the same hasty decisions?

Even though the fans are enamored with Nate Robinson, Marbury is still the team’s best point guard. And even though I’ve been critical of Marbury in the past I really think he is trying to fit in and play the way Thomas wants him to.

And yet, I felt Thomas went out of his way to embarrass Marbury in the home loss to the Houston Rockets. Marbury wasn’t being erratic and the Knicks were only down eight when Thomas called a timeout to bench Marbury and Francis. Saturday’s benching made more sense because Marbury looked lifeless, just like the team.

To me, it is becoming clear that Marbury is feeling the pressure of playing at Madison Square Garden. At least three players I spoke to on Saturday believe that there are a handful of Knicks that wilt under the bright lights of MSG and they all included Marbury in that group.

Marbury and the Knicks would both be best served by a trade. As a third or fourth option on a good team, Marbury would excel. Plus, I feel at this stage of his career he needs to get out of New York. If he played for Miami, Houston or Dallas he would help those teams.

What Marbury needs to do is stop engaging in a war of words with Thomas. Because if Isiah is committed to purging Marbury from the roster, Marbury could talk his way into a suspension. The Knicks could then tell Marbury to stay away from the team and wait for Marbury to approach the club with a buyout.

On some level, I feel sorry for Marbury because I believe there are people in the Knicks organization that have taken advantage of him and allowed his surly behavior to take over the locker room. When Marbury arrived in New York, Thomas gave him the keys to the franchise which only alienated the entire locker room.

Marbury was then told by executives which media members to avoid so instead of using the media to build his image, he acted like a creep and went to war with the press. It was wasted energy in a battle he can’t win. And yet no one in the organization had the smarts to tell him otherwise.

I’m one of those media guys that Marbury has zero use for. Our relationship has come a long way since he was an 11-year-old kid and would call me regularly to talk about high school basketball. Over the years, I’ve established professional relationships with Ewing, Oakley, Harper, Houston, Ward, Larry Johnson, Latrell, Van Gundy. But Marbury was told by the Knicks petty organization to avoid me at all costs.

Unfortunately, it could end badly here for Marbury and when it does those same people who are “protecting” Marbury will be the same folks who will bury him behind his back. That’s the MSG way.

You just wish that Marbury would ignore the media, fans and his small army of enablers and just play. Find the joy in having one of the greatest jobs there is. He dreamed about it when he was 11. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that he is letting slip away.

Posted by NYKniCksFan87:

Posted by Rich:

Who are the other two that "wilt under the bright lights of MSG "?

curry and richardson maybe

Posted by eViL:

Curry and Frye?

Posted by martin:

Posted by eViL:

Curry and Frye?

Marbury and Curry are obvious. I think maybe Frye is the third too.

Posted by martin:

wow, pretty raw from Isola.

Posted by martin:

Posted by djsunyc:

i think marbury was basically a mouthpiece for isiah last year vs. brown. isiah went into hiding for the final 2 months of the season yet marbury kept yapping without any repricussions. if isiah told marbury, who is his boy and lives 2 doors down from him, to stop talking to the press, then he would have. isiah enabled him and enabled the mess last year.

isiah is a snake. he got it turned on brown. i don't think he expected to be the coach of this team (remember billy donovan up here last year?). and now isiah knows steph is public enemy #1 and isiah is not going to let steph bring him down. so he's flipping the script on marbury and hanging him out to dry. do you think goes down if francis isn't here? damn man, isiah is f'n smart.

it's some SHADY stuff man. and isiah needs to go the same day steph does.

it IS shady, and here is what I think may be worse: Dolan TOLD Isiah he had to get Marbury AND get the Knicks to the playoffs ASAP. Total FUBAR from top to bottom.

Posted by SeatsBlue:

I mean how does a beat writer put into print what conversations have been held behind closed doors concerning the media? The fact Marbury has told him this and that he printed it speaks volumes of how bad the situation is. If I was on this team I couldn't trust not one soul.